AMHERST, Mass. -
Making its second straight Atlantic 10 Tournament appearance, the UMass women's soccer team will be in search of its first postseason victory since 1997 when the squad takes on Saint Bonaventure at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday evening at the University of Rhode Island. The winner of the matchup between the No. 5 Minutewomen (8-10-0) and the No. 4 Bonnies (11-8-0), will advance to the quarterfinals to face either No. 1 Charlotte or No. 2 Dayton on Friday.
UMass In The Tournament
UMass is making its 11th appearance in the Atlantic 10 tournament. The Minutewomen are 9-6 all-time in the A-10 postseason, but have never played conference tournament games against four of the five teams in this year's field.
Dayton is the only one of the group that UMass has previously squared off against in the A-10 Championship, with a 1-1-0 A-10 Tournament record against the Flyers.
UMass' last Atlantic 10 tournament victory came in the 1997 championship game, 1-0 over George Washington.
This marks the first time since 1999 and 2000 that the Minutewomen have qualified for the conference tournament in consecutive seasons. UMass last scored an A-10 Tournament goal in 1999, a 5-1 loss to Xavier.
About The Bonnies
St. Bonaventure enters the A-10 tournament as the No. 4 seed with a record of 11-8-0, 5-4-0 in conference play. The Bonnies had won four straight matches prior to dropping their season finale at Richmond, 2-1, this past Sunday. St. Bonaventure handed both Charlotte (3-1) and Dayton (2-1) their only losses in A-10 action.
Anna Cunningham leads the Bonnies with 21 points on nine goals and three assists, while Tori Burchett follows with 15 points on six goals and three assists and Courtney Bosse has 14 points on four goals and six assists. Burchett and Bosse have two game-winning goals apiece.
Nicole Markert has seen the bulk of the action in goal for St. Bonaventure, playing 1225:36 minutes in net with a record of 10-5-0 and five shutouts. She holds a 0.95 goals against average and a .759 save percentage.
UMass is 12-2 all-time against the Bonnies, winning six of the past seven meetings. The series began with a 4-0 win for the Minutewomen on Oct. 17, 1993 in Amherst.
Offense Overview
Fifteen players have accounted for UMass' 82 points on 28 goals and 26 assists.
Junior Deanna Colarossi paces the Minutewomen with 20 points on nine goals and two assists. Her nine goals is the highest total by a UMass player since 2004 when Britt Canfield scored 11, while Colarossi's point total is the most for a Minutewoman since Canfield had 26 in 2007. Colarossi has two multi-goal games on the season, scoring twice at Fairfield and three times vs. Temple.
Therese Smith follows with a career-high 17 points on seven goals and three assists. She totaled seven points in conference play on three goals and one assist.
Junior Meghan Collins and senior Ashley Hamel are just shy of double-digit point totals with nine and eight, respectively. Collins has three goals and three assists, while Hamel has two goals and four assists. The two have accounted four of UMass' eight game-winning goals, each with two on the year.
First Goal Is Key
UMass is 7-0 in matches when the squad scores first compared to 1-10 when its opponent notches the first tally.
All seven of those victories have been shutouts, tying the highest total for a UMass team since 1997.
In matches the Minutewomen have won, the team is outscoring its opponent by a 21-1 margin, holding a 135-85 edge in shots.
Milestone Wins
UMass' 1-0 win over Saint Joseph's in overtime on Oct. 24 was the 400th in program history. The Minutewomen are currently 401-186-36 (.673) all-time.
On Oct. 29 at Fordham, UMass recorded its 100th Atlantic 10 victory, 1-0 over the Rams. The Minutewomen closed out the 2010 regular season with an all-time conference record of 100-65-6 (.602).
Three For Dee
Junior Deanna Colarossi scored three times in the first half to lead the UMass women's soccer team past Temple, 5-0 on Oct. 22 at Rudd Field. Colarossi is the first UMass player to score three goals in a game since Oct. 25, 2002, when Erin Lilly had four to tie the program single game record in a 6-1 win over Temple.
Colarossi's hat trick was just the second by an Atlantic 10 player this season.
She became the first Minutewoman to score three times in a half since Katelyn Jones accomplished the feat on Oct. 8, 2000, also vs. Temple.
UMass Measures Up In A-10
As a team, UMass ranks in the top five of the Atlantic 10 in several categories as the squad is fourth in assists per-game (1.44) and fifth in goals (28), goals-per game (1.56), assists (26) and points (79).
The Minutewomen have posted seven shutouts on the year to rank fourth in the conference.
Junior Deanna Colarossi ranks in the top-10 individual for goals (9, sixth), goals per-game (0.50, sixth), points per-game (1.11, ninth) and points (20, tied 10th).
Senior Therese Smith is sixth in shots (60) and sixth in shots per-game (3.33).
Minutewomen Earn Weekly Awards
Freshman defender Brittany Moore and senior midfielder Therese Smith were both honored with weekly awards on Monday, Oct. 25, following the Minutewomen's 2-0 conference weekend. Moore was tabbed co-Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, while Smith was recognized as co-UMass Athlete of the Week.
Moore helped the UMass defense post a pair of shutouts on the weekend, 5-0 over Temple and 1-0 over Saint Joseph's. The freshman anchored a backline that held the Hawks to just two shots on goal in Sunday's contest, while also dishing an assist on the second goal of Friday's match against the Owls.
Smith scored in both UMass victories on the weekend, helping to start the rout of Temple by notching the second goal of the game 18:18 into the match. The midfielder followed up by tallying the overtime winner against Saint Joseph's on Senior Day, the lone goal of the contest.
Making Strides In A-10 Play
Junior Deanna Colarossi's goal in the 55th minute of UMass' match vs. Charlotte on Oct. 1 was the first goal scored for the Minutewomen against the 49ers since winning the first meeting between the squads, 2-0, on Oct. 28, 2005.
In the same weekend, the Minutewomen picked up their first ever win in their series against Saint Louis. UMass was previously 0-5-0 all-time against the Billikens. Junior Megan Collins' goal vs. Saint Louis was also the first for UMass in the all-time series.
UMass' 1-0 win over Fordham on Oct. 29 not only secured the team's second straight Atlantic 10 Tournament berth, but also marked UMass' first win over the Rams since 2007. Fordham had previously been 6-1 at home on the season.
Now Vs. Then
The Minutewomen have scored 28 goals to date (18 games) and surpassed last year's total of 15 goals in 19 games just nine games into the season. The current total is the most by a UMass team since 2007 (28 goals in 17 games). UMass last scored 28+ goals in 2001, when the squad had 36.
Through 18 games, UMass has 28 goals on 239 shots, while in 2009 through 18 games, the team had 15 goals on 185 shots.
The Minutewomen surpassed their win total from a year ago with two games to play in the regular season. UMass won its seventh game on Oct 24 vs. Saint Joseph's, the most wins for the program since 2007 when the squad won nine games.
Emily's Assist
Sophomore goalkeeper Emily Cota assist on UMass' second tally at Oakland on Sept. 19 was not only the first of her career, but marked the first by a UMass netminder since Kelly Nigh recorded an assist vs. Xavier on Oct. 10, 2003.
Youth Movement
Nine freshmen and sophomores have seen time in the starting lineup this season. Freshman Brittany Moore is one of five players to start all 18 games.
Out of the 15 Minutewomen who have registered points thus far this season, eight have been from the freshmen and sophomore classes. Out of the seven remaining, three scored their first goals in a UMass uniform.
Offensive Outburst
UMass' 4-0 win over Vermont on Sept. 3 marked the most goals scored by the Minutewomen since Sept. 16, 2007, when the squad defeated Hartford, 4-0, at home.
The Minutewomen repeated the four-goal output three games later with a 4-0 victory on the road at Fairfield, the squad's largest margin of victory on the road since Oct. 3, 1999 at St. Joseph's (5-1 win).
Then on Oct. 22 at home vs. Temple, the squad surpassed both of those performances, scoring five goals for the largest scoring output for the Minutewomen since 2002. It was the first five-goal half for the Minutewomen since the 2001 squad routed Duquesne, 7-0.
Prior to this fall, the last time UMass won three games by 4+ goals in the same season was 2001, a 6-2 win against Binghamton and back-to-back victories over St. Bonaventure (5-0) and Duquesne (7-0).
The Minutewomen are out-shooting opponents, 239-234, 124-109 in shots on goal. Three players have logged multi-goal games this season: Therese Smith, Sydney Stoll and Deanna Colarossi.
Home Sweet Home
In the history of UMass women's soccer the squad is 218-67-11 (.755) all-time in Amherst. Five of UMass' six wins last season came at Rudd Field.
The Minutewomen are 40-36-2 (.527) all-time when playing on Rudd.
Welcome Matz
Ed Matz, the former Northeastern women's soccer head coach and 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year, was named the fifth head coach in UMass women's soccer history on Jan. 7, 2010, and is in his first season on the sidelines with the Minutewomen.
In his coaching tenure at Northeastern, nine seasons with the men's team (1996-2004) and 11 with the women's (1999-2009), Matz posted a combined record of 182-165-41.
Matz earned his first victory as UMass head coach on Sept. 3, a 4-0 win over Vermont. The win also was Matz's 100th of his career as a women's head coach. His career women's coaching record is 107-100-25.
By The Numbers
UMass returns eight players who saw regular time in the starting lineup last fall, not counting goalkeeper Emily Cota. Cota saw action in 17 of the team's 19 games in 2009, playing 1,150 minutes in net.
Of the 42 points the Minutewomen totaled last season, returnees accounted for all but seven. UMass brings back four of its top-five in scoring from 2009, including senior co-captains Therese Smith and Sydney Stoll.
More On The Captains
In 2009, Therese Smith led the Minutewomen with 13 points on five goals and three assists, including two game-winners. She has played in every possible contest for a consecutive matches streak of 72, starting 54 of the past 55. Smith is the team's career scoring leader with 16 goals and nine assists for 41 points.
After returning from injury, which caused her to miss all of 2008, Sydney Stoll made a huge impact in her return to the lineup last season. She registered 11 points on five goals and one assist and represented UMass on the 2009 Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team.
Firsts
Sophomore Jenna Goodwin and freshmen Kayla Austin, Annie Ward and Brittany Moore all made their first collegiate starts in UMass' season opener vs. Washington on Aug. 27. Goodwin played in 12 games as a freshman in 2009, registering one assist.
Freshmen Jen Houtmann, Blair Ferry and Lauren Skesavage made their debuts as Minutewomen off the bench. Skesavage registered two of UMass' nine shots in the contest.
Ferry and Skesavage earned their first career starts against Vermont on Sept. 3, while Austin and junior Meghan Collins scored their first collegiate goals in that match.
Senior Ashley Hamel earned her first collegiate tally in overtime vs. New Hampshire on Sept. 10, while Ferry scored her first goal on Sept. 12 at Fairfield.
Juniors Lindsey DiOrio and Deanna Colarossi both made their first starts for UMass at Oakland on Sept. 19. Houtmann, Moore and sophomore Emily Cota all notched their first career assists vs. the Golden Grizzlies, as well.
Skesavage picked up her first collegiate assist on Sept. 26 vs. Harvard. Freshman Emersyn Pullan made her UMass debut in that match, stopping all three shots she faced in 40:09 minutes of play.
Pullan made her first career start on Oct. 1 vs. Charlotte. She earned her first win and shutout on Oct. 3 against Saint Louis.
Against Temple on Oct. 22, Houtmann made her first career start, while senior Alyssa Visconti picked up her first career point, an assist on the team's third goal of the afternoon. Freshman Alexa Zielinski saw her first collegiate action off the bench in that match, as well.
Sophomore Jess Howe dished an assist on Therese Smith's overtime game-winner vs. Saint Joseph's on Oct. 24 for her first career point.
The group consists of five forwards, four defenders and one goalkeeper with four players hailing from Massachusetts, two from Connecticut and one each from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Canada and England.
Colarossi, a junior transfer from Oakland, was an All-Summit League Second Team selection in 2009 after leading the Golden Grizzlies in scoring with 15 points on seven goals and one assist, including three game-winners.
UMass Women's Soccer Now On Twitter
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