Sept. 15, 2011
AMHERST, Mass. -
It is a key non-conference home weekend for the UMass field hockey team as they welcome a pair of ranked opponents to Garber Field. On Friday, the Minutewomen (2-3) face an in-state rival in No. 20 Northeastern (4-2) at 6 p.m. and on Sunday, 2010 National Champion and No. 3-ranked Maryland (5-1) comes to town for a noon contest.
Follow The Action
Both Friday and Sunday's games can be watched online on UMass All-Access at UMassAthletics.com.
Free live stats for both games will also be available on GameTracker.
Vs. Ranked Opponents
The Minutewomen are 0-1 against ranked opponents this season, a 5-0 season-opening loss to No. 14 Boston College on Aug. 27 in Burlington, Vt.
Last season, UMass was 2-5 against ranked opponents, including a 2-3 mark against top 10 teams. Two of those losses came at the hands of Maryland, ranked No. 2 and No. 1, and the victories came against No. 4 Connecticut (1-0, 9/11) and No. 8 Syracuse (2-0, 10/3).
Dating back to 2008, UMass is 7-12 against ranked teams, 6-6 at Garber Field.
Familiar Territory
UMass redshirt freshman Marisa Dunn will be playing against her twin sister, Kelly, on Friday. Kelly is redshirt freshman for the Huskies.
Northeastern senior defender Keelin Quinn was a high school teammate of UMass captain Nikki Panciocco.
Northeastern junior Olivia Bass is an Amherst native and graduate of Amherst Regional High School.
First-year UMass head coach Carla Tagliente will be facing her alma mater on Sunday when the Minutewomen host Maryland. Tagliente was a four-time All-American and two-time Broderick Award finalist. She led the Terps to the 1999 National Championship and until 2010 held the program career records for goals (87) and points (187).
Maryland sophomore forward Jill Witmer is a former high school teammate of UMass freshman Renee Suter at Penn Manor in Lancaster, Pa.
Series History
UMass is 19-16-3 all-time against Northeastern. Last season, senior captains Katie Kelly and Jaime Bourazeris erased a 1-0 deficit and led UMass field hockey to a 2-1 victory in Boston. The series dates back to the first meeting between in two teams in 1974.
Against Maryland, UMass field hockey is 0-11-0 all-time in a series that dates back to 1979. Last season Maryland defeated UMass 3-0 early in the season, before defeating the Minutewomen 4-2 and knocking them out of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Both games were played in College Park.
Scouting Northeastern
Northeastern is 4-2 on the season, starting 4-0 before falling to California 4-2, and Stanford 4-2 this past week.
The Huskies are led by junior forward Crystal Poland, who has had three straight multi-goal games and has scored 13 times on the season.
Lizzie Priest has started all six game in goal and has a 1.83 GAA.
Scouting Maryland
#3 Maryland is 5-1 on the season defeating Northwestern 3-0, and Villanova 6-3 in the Terrapin Invitational last weekend. The Terrapins went 3-1 in the Conference Cup to start the season, with the only loss coming against Old Dominion, 4-0.
Maryland defeated UMass 4-2 in the Opening Round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament on its way to a National Championship, defeating North Carolina 3-2 (2OT).
Jill Witmer and Jemma Buckley lead the team in goals with seven and six respectively.
In goal, the Terrapins have split time between Natalie Hunter, 1.71 GAA, and Melissa Vassalotti, 2.14 GAA.
Sophomore Jill Witmer was named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Co-Field Hockey Player of the Week this week after scoring two game-winning goals and also notching her first career hat trick.
Last Time Out
Goals by Nicole Cordero, Nikki Panciocco, and Kim Young, and a 26-5 shot advantage led UMass field hockey (2-3) to a 3-0 victory over Harvard (2-1) in the home opener at Garber Field last Saturday afternoon. Alesha Widdall earned her 22nd career shutout in goal on the day UMass honored the 30th anniversary of its 1981 Final Four team.
The Minutewomen controlled play from the outset, using a 16-1 shot advantage in the first half before eventually winning the shot battle, 26-5, and holding a 10-0 edge in penalty corners.
Prior to the game, a ceremony was held at midfield honoring the 30th anniversary of UMass' 1981 National Finalist team that went 17-1-2 in the first year of a NCAA women's championship. Harvard Head Coach Sue Caples was a member of that Minutewomen squad.
Callie Sweigart and Alyssa Ineson each assisted on goals.
Panciocco's goal and Ineson's assist were each career firsts.
Suter Takes First Rookie Honor
UMass field hockey freshman midfielder Renee Suter was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on Aug. 29. The Millersville, Pa. native notched her first career goal in UMass' 4-2 victory at Vermont on Aug. 29. Suter has started both of the Minutewomen's (1-1) games on the midfield line this season. With UMass leading 2-0 on Monday, Suter scored what proved to be the decisive goal in the Minutewomen's 4-2 win in the 22nd minute when she took a long outlet pass from Kim Young and blasted a shot off the inside of the post, beating Catamounts goalie Stephanie Zygmunt. Suter has two points and four shots through two games on the season.
Tagliente Era Begins
On Jan. 7 of this year, UMass Athletic Director John McCutcheon announced Carla Tagliente as the new head coach of the field hockey program. A highly decorated player and coach, Tagliente comes to UMass from Northwestern, where she served as Associate Head Coach the last two years.
The first-year head coach brings to UMass an aggressive attacking style of play that has revitalized offenses at Northwestern, Michigan, and Iowa.
Tagliente is one of the rising coaching stars in USA Field Hockey as well, currently serving as head coach of the U-19 US National Team for 2011. She led the squad in a overseas tour in Chile in April and also coached at the High Performance Championship in Virginia Beach this summer.
Tagliente comes to UMass with eight years coaching experience in the Big Ten Conference, with stops at Northwestern (2009-10), Michigan (2006-08), and Iowa (2003-05).
Tagliente was an All-American all four years of a standout career at Maryland from 1997-2000, earning first-team honors the final three seasons. The two-time Broderick Award finalist and 1999 National Champion went on to play seven years with the USA National Team.
She replaces Justine Sowry, who was named head coach at Louisville in December after four seasons at UMass.
The Widdall Wall
The undisputed strength of the Minutewomen heading into 2011 is between the pipes in the form of senior Alesha Widdall. The goalkeeper from Whitney Point, N.Y. is a two-time All-American and three-time All-Conference performer, leading what has been the Atlantic 10's stingiest defense over the last three years.
UMass' win at Vermont on Aug. 29 was the 41st victory of Widdall's collegiate career.
Her Sept. 10 shutout against Harvard was the 22nd of her career and first of 2011.
Widdall started all 23 games in 2010, going 15-8. Her .776 save percentage and 1.19 goals against average both ranked seventh-best in the country.
Tri-Captains For 2011
Joining Alesha Widdall as captains for the 2011 season are fellow senior Nikki Panciocco and junior Thando Zono. Panciocco, a midfielder from Walpole, Mass., was tied for second on the team last season with eight assists. Zono, a defender in her second year at UMass after transferring from a school in South Africa, is out for this weekend as she recovers from off-season knee surgery.
In The Polls
The National Field Hockey Coaches Association released its Top 20 Preseason Poll on Aug. 23 with UMass finishing just out of the top 20. The Minutewomen were the top "receiving votes" team, coming in with 98. In the two subsequent polls, UMass was receiving votes as well.
Taking On The Best
UMass will face a tough schedule in 2011. The Minutewomen will face three of the top five teams in the preseason poll, including No. 1 Maryland, who comes to Garber Field on Sept. 18. The Minutewomen will face six teams of the top 20 teams in the preseason poll and seven more that received votes, accounting for 13 of the 18 regular season games.
Looking Ahead
The Minutewomen conclude their four-game homestand on Friday, Sept. 23 when they host Boston University at 6 p.m. After that, UMass will be on the road for a pair of contests against ranked Big East foes, No. 4 Connecticut on Sept. 28 and No. 5 Syracuse on Oct. 2. 
