Sept. 22, 2011
AMHERST, Mass. -
UMass field hockey closes a four-game homestand on Friday night under the lights at Garber Field when the Minutewomen (2-5) host No. 17 Boston University (4-3) in the final home non-conference game of the season. UMass is looking to bounce back from a pair of tough losses to ranked opponents last weekend before they head into four in a row on the road.
Follow The Action
Friday's game can be watched online on UMass All-Access at UMassAthletics.com.
Free live stats for both games will also be available on GameTracker.
Familiar Territory
UMass freshman defender Mariajose Rodriguez, BU senior forward Andrea Greene, and BU freshman goalie Valentina Cerda are all natives of Santiago, Chile. Rodriguez attended the Repland School, while Greene attended Universidad Diego Portales, and Cerda went to Deutsche Schule Santiago.
Series History
UMass is 14-16-2 all-time against Boston University in a series that dates back to 1979.
The teams last met on Sept. 5 of last year in Cambridge, Mass. with the Terriers coming away with a 2-1 win. Allie Dolce scored in the first minute and Jacinda McLeod scored off a corner in the 15th minutes to give them a 2-0 lead. Katie Kelly got UMass on the board 6:11 into the second half, but UMass couldn't get the equalizer.
The last time the teams met at Garber Field was Sept. 4, 2009 when the Terriers won 3-2 in overtime.
Scouting Boston University
Boston University is currently 4-3 on the season. This
past week they defeated Ball State, 8-0, before falling at Michigan
3-1. As a result of the 1-1 week, they dropped three spots in the poll to No. 17 this week.
The Terriers and Minutewomen share two common opponents so far this year, Maryland and Boston College. Both teams lost both games with UMass falling to Maryland, 4-1, and BC, 5-0, and the Terriers fell to the Terps, 3-1, and BC, 1-0.
Macey Gaumond leads the Terriers in points and goals with 12 points and six goals. Jacinda McLeod has 10 points on the year, with four goals and two assists, and is always a danger on corners.
In goal, Julie Collins, Valentina Cerda, and Jess Maroney have all split time, combining for a 1.29 goals against average and a .750 save percentage.
#3 Maryland 4, UMass 1
No. 3 Maryland scored two unanswered second-half goals to turn what was a 2-1 game at halftime into a 4-1 victory for the Terrapins over UMass on Sunday afternoon at Garber Field. Kate Heineman scored the lone goal for the Minutewomen while Alesha Widdall made 11 saves in goal.
Heineman tallied her first goal of the season in the 17th minute when she knocked in the rebound of a Callie Sweigart shot off a penalty corner, pulling the Minutewomen within a goal, 2-1, the same margin the teams would take into halftime.
Alis McEvoy netted her first goal of the season in the 44th minute and Maxine Fluharty capped off the scoring in the 53rd minute to give the Terrapins the 4-1 win. McEvoy's goal came off a blast from the top of the circle on a pass from Megan Frazer, and Fluharty's fourth of the year came on a sharp-angled shot that went off Widdall's pads and in.
Jill Witmer and Katie Gerzabek gave Maryland an early 2-0 lead with goals in the eighth and ninth minutes. Witmer's came off a penalty corner while Gerzabek got her sixth of the year on a pass from Witmer.
Widdall kept the Minutewomen in the game with 11 saves, one short of her season high.
#20 Northeastern 2, UMass 1, OT
Carolyn Malloy scored off a penalty corner 6:58 into overtime to complete a comeback victory for No. 20 Northeastern (5-2) over UMass (2-4), 2-1 last Friday night at Garber Field. UMass took a first-half lead on a goal by Renee Suter, but the Huskies tied the game and forced the extra period on a Pam Aldridge goal with 11:03 left in regulation.
UMass held a 19-16 shot advantage for the game, but Northeastern outshot the Minutewomen, 4-1, in overtime. The Huskies drew 10 penalty corners, including two in OT, to UMass' eight.
After inserting Northeastern's second penalty corner of overtime, Malloy took a pass from Aldridge on the left post and scored her second of the season to give the Huskies the win 6:58 into overtime.
Suter gave the Minutewomen the early lead in the 24th minute when she tipped in a long pass from outside the circle off the stick of Kate Heineman. It was the freshman's second goal of the season while the junior Heineman collected her second assist of the year.
Alesha Widdall made six saves in goal for UMass including a few of the spectacular variety on Poland, the nation's leading scorer entering the week, who took a game-high nine shots with five on goal.
Vs. Ranked Opponents
The Minutewomen are 0-3 against ranked opponents this season, with losses to No. 14 Boston College, No. 20 Northeastern, and No. 3 Maryland.
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 7-14 against ranked teams, 6-8 at Garber Field.
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 every game for the Minutewomen this season.
With UMass leading 2-0 at Vermont, 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 four points on two goals and 10 shots through seven 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.
Widdall has played more minutes than any active goalkeeper in the country, ranks fourth in goals against average, and fifth in save percentage.
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 three subsequent polls, including this week, UMass was receiving votes as well.
Taking On The Best
UMass will face a tough schedule in 2011. The Minutewomen faces three of the top five teams in the preseason poll, including preseason No. 1 Maryland, who came 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 hit the road for three weeks, playing four contests on the road, all against tough opponents. On Wednesday, UMass travels to Storrs, Conn. to face No. 4 Connecticut in a 7 p.m. game. Next Saturday, Oct. 2, the Minutewomen head to Syracuse to face the No. 5 Orange at 2 p.m. Both Big East squads will be looking to avenge losses to the Minutewomen in 2010.
UMass opens A-10 play on Oct. 8 and Lock Haven before heading to Albany the following day to face the Great Danes. 
