Atlantic 10 Championship Approaches For Field Hockey

University of Massachusetts Field Hockey Game Notes
Game 20	No. 2 seed Massachusetts (12-7 overall, 6-2 Atlantic 10) vs. No. 3 seed VCU (14-5 overall, 6-2 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time [ET]	Friday, Nov. 3 \| 2 p.m.
Location	Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex; Amherst, Mass.
Series History	Massachusetts leads, 6-1. Last meeting: Massachusetts 4, VCU 2; Oct. 6, 2017
Live Statistics	SIDEARM Stats
Live Video	Atlantic 10 Digital Network
Team Information	Massachusetts \| VCU
Twitter	@UMassFH \| @UMassAthletics
Instagram	UMass Field Hockey
Tournament Information	Atlantic 10 Championship Central

Setting The Scene
The Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Championship returns to the University of Massachusetts and the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex on Fri., Nov. 3 and Sat., Nov. 4. Semifinal matches will take place on Friday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., with the winner of those contests advancing to Saturday's Championship at 2 p.m.

Massachusetts, seeded second in the tournament, will meet third-seeded VCU in Friday's second semifinal, following the opener between top-seeded Saint Joseph's and fourth-seeded Richmond.

VCU ended the regular season with a 14-5 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Atlantic 10. The Rams were ultimately seeded third as a result of the head-to-head match with Massachusetts on Oct. 6, when UMass came away with the 4-2 upper hand.

Recap In A Minute
Massachusetts closed the regular season on a high note after picking up a 2-1 win over Richmond on Fri., Oct. 27. Melanie Kreusch put the Minutewomen on the board via an eighth minute penalty stroke before Richmond equalized late in the second half. With under two minutes remaining in regulation, Sarah Hawkshaw sealed the win, deflecting a shot by Kreusch into the top left corner of the cage. Emily Hazard made four saves between the pipes to preserve the outcome.

Massachusetts In The Atlantic 10 Championship
In 50 total games played in the Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Champsionship, Massachusetts boasts a 39-11 record, which includes a 23-4 mark in the Semifinal Round and a 16-7 record in the league title game.

UMass entered the 2016 iteration of the Atlantic 10 Championship as the No. 3 seed, taking down second-seeded Richmond in part led by Sarah Hawkshaw's hat trick effort, the first of her career. The Minutewomen followed that up with a 2-1 triumph over top-seed and No. 20 nationally ranked Saint Joseph's for the A-10 crown.

The Massachusetts-VCU Report
Friday's match will be the second time this season that UMass and VCU will square off at the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex after the Minutewomen came away with a 4-2 win on Fri., Oct. 6. The sides have met only once in the Atlantic 10 Championship, crossing paths in the Semifinal round in 2013, when UMass picked up a 1-0 decision in double overtime as a result of a Lauren Allymohamed strike.

Home Sweet Home
This is the sixth time UMass has hosted the Atlantic 10 Championship, after the Minutewomen previously welcomed the tournament to Amherst in 1997, 2000, 2009, 2012 and 2013. However, 2017 will mark the first time that the Maroon and White have done so at the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex, which opened in 2015.

The Minutewomen captured the Atlantic 10 Championship each of those six seasons except 2009–compiling an 8-1 record in tournament action in the Pioneer Valley.

In Kreusch We Trust
Senior Melanie Kreusch has emerged as an instrumental contributor for the Minutewomen at both ends of the pitch. In addition to playing a key backfield role, the Belgium native has 86 career points to her name on 37 goals and 12 assists. This season, Kreusch has inked 10 goals plus four helpers, helping UMass to a 7-2 regular season record when she records at least one point.

HAWK-SMASH
Then-junior midfielder and forward Sarah Hawkshaw won the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship Most Outstanding Player Award with seven points over the two-game slate, split between three goals and one assist. She ended the year with a team-high 16 goals scored, also a single-season career best. The Dublin, Ireland, native is the program's active leader in goals scored with 40 and points recorded with 91.

Hawkshaw now ranks among the program's all-time scoring leaders. She is seventh in career goals and eighth in points scored. Next on the list for goals is Jenn Salisbury (1990-93) and Megan Donnelly (1982-85) with 41. Former Minutewoman Katie Kelly (2007-10) is seventh in points with 93.

Immediate Impacts
Two of Massachusetts' top four scorers in the regular season were freshmen in Lucy Cooper and Georgie McTear. Cooper, a native of New Zealand, had 19 points via five goals and nine assists. McTear added 11 points through four goals and three helpers. Cooper started 16 contests at forward and McTear has started each game spending time at midfield and defense.

The Vet In Net
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Emily Hazard is in her second season as a starter in the cage for the Minutewomen. Though 18 games, Hazard has trimmed her goals against average to 1.59 and compiled a .741 save percentage, making 80 stops and allowing 28 tallies in 1,228 minutes of action. She started 18 of 19 contests and posted four shutouts–three individual and one combined with freshman goalkeeper Camille Lecrone.

Back-To-Back Like Jordan '96, '97
UMass field hockey won the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship with a 2-1 victory over Saint Joseph's in the title game on Sat., Nov. 5. It marked the second consecutive season and fourth in the last five years the Minutewomen claimed the league's crown.

The 2016 title was the team's 16th with the Atlantic 10, more than all other current or former league members combined (13). UMass also went back-to-back in 1992 and '93, won six straight from 1996-2001, claimed the 2007-08 crowns and again won back-to-back in 2012 and '13.

Weinberg Named UMass Field Hockey Head Coach
University of Massachusetts Director of Athletic Ryan Bamford announced Barb Weinberg as the ninth head coach of the field hockey program on Dec. 15, 2016. Weinberg joins Massachusetts after serving as Wake Forest's associate head coach and recruiting coordinator for the 2014-16 seasons. The Demon Deacons advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice and won the 2014 Atlantic Coast Conference title during her tenure.

Weinberg made assistant coaching stops at American University (2013-14), the University of Maryland (2010-13) and the University of Iowa (2008). During her time with the Terrapins, the team captured back-to-back NCAA titles in 2010 and 2011.

A 2005 Iowa graduate, Weinberg was a two-time All-American, three-time All-Big Ten performer and two-time team captain for the Hawkeyes (2000-04). She was a member of the U.S. Women's National Team from 2005-10, making 19 international appearances in that span. Weinberg also served as the alternate goalkeeper for the U.S. at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Welch Joins Staff As UMass Field Hockey Assistant Coach
University of Massachusetts field hockey head coach Barb Weinberg announced the hiring of Ed Welch as an assistant coach on July 27. Welch joins the Minutewomen staff to guide the UMass offense following a tenure with the Canterbury Hockey Club in Canterbury, England, as the Ladies 1st XI Head Coach.

As the leader of the Canterbury Ladies Hockey Club 1st XI, Welch guided the squad in Women's Premier Division action, as well as to a sixth place finish in European Cup play, European hockey's premier club event, held in the Netherlands. His role included planning and executing team training sessions, match day preparations and coaching and postgame video review. He also served as a liaison for Great Britain and England Hockey's "High Performance" programs with a focus in assisting with training and development of prospective national team athletes.

UMass Field Hockey On Social Media
Follow University of Massachusetts field hockey on social media throughout the season via Twitter (@UMassFH), Instagram (@UMassFieldHockey) or Facebook (UMass Field Hockey).

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Players Mentioned

Lucy Cooper

Sarah Hawkshaw

Emily Hazard

Melanie Kreusch

Camille Lecrone

Georgie McTear

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University of Massachusets Athletics