University of Massachusets Athletics
For Burnett, UMass Offers Second Home and Family
May 11, 2017 | Women's Lacrosse
After two years marked by transfer and injuries, redshirt junior is making her mark.
Long Island is known for many great things - two of them being lacrosse and pizza. If you ask Hannah Burnett for her opinion on pizza preference, Long Island takes the crown, but as she'll admit not by much. So it's no surprise that pizza would be her celebratory dinner of choice after winning the Atlantic 10 Women's Lacrosse Championships for the ninth consecutive year just last week.
The redshirt junior currently holds the program's record for most goals scored in a single-game. Originally, she set the record with eight goals against Saint Joseph's but she almost broke it again with a matching performance three weeks later against George Mason in a thrilling comeback.
When the attack was asked about the two performances, she had nothing but praise for her teammates. Burnett's humility was a common theme throughout the media attention she's received this year – a hallmark of humbleness and teamwork that UMass Lacrosse prides itself on.
"I really rely on everyone else to get me the ball. I started to read my teammates really well as the season progressed and they began to get a sense of my style too. Most of our goals are assisted and we pride ourselves on that," said Burnett.
Her original record for single-game goals wasn't the only record that was set against Saint Joseph's. The team itself broke the record for assists against the Hawks. Burnett explained that head coach Angela McMahon always encourages a team effort noting that "it's always one of our pre-game goals to get at least 10 assists in a game."
Team play is a huge characteristic Burnett looked for when choosing where she wanted to play lacrosse. The Huntington, N.Y., native spoke on the importance of being completive together instead of being competitive with each other. Support and togetherness is something that makes UMass special and is hard to find noted Burnett.
But it wasn't always as easy as it sounds for Burnett who transferred to UMass from the University of Florida where she suffered an injury in her first fall season as a Gator. Not being able to return to the field for some time Burnett ultimately decided that UF wasn't her match and moved closer to New York where her family could watch her play.
It wasn't a difficult decision for Burnett when looking at UMass because instantly she felt the same intensity from the team that she loved at Florida. However, there was a special team dynamic that felt like a family. With experience from being on another team, Burnett really pushes her teammates and friends to realize how special this bond is and to appreciate it's uniqueness.
"These are people that are going to be in my life for the rest of my life," said Burnett. "It's a huge family, a bunch of sisters really."
Burnett reflected back to the time where her friends had nothing but support for her when she injured her knee during the Richmond game during her sophomore year. As a transfer, one might expect it could take some time to find their footing and friends, but the girls rallied around Burnett as she had an articulate cartilage defect.
Wanting to train throughout the summer, Burnett hoped to do rehab for six weeks in hopes of avoiding surgery. Unfortunately, the pain did not go away and knee surgery began to look like the only option available. Burnett's recovery time took about two and a half months and forced her to miss most of the fall season.
"Getting back into things was really tough. My position is on the inside and that requires me to be very explosive," said Burnett.
When recovering from knee surgery, explosiveness and speed can be the hardest and scariest things to regain. Along with the footwork, getting back into the game "shape" and conditioning required of a Division I athlete was an uphill battle the daunted Burnett.
Though faced with injuries and transition, Burnett couldn't have asked for a more fairytale story at UMass in her two years with the program. One of her favorite memories to this date was when teammate Eileen McDonald scored the overtime game-winning goal against Princeton in last year's NCAA First Round as part of a run to the Elite Eight.
'We all just sprinted to her and I just remember putting my arm around her and everyone was going crazy; not in a disbelief but as an 'us-against-the-world' feeling," said Burnett as excitement flooded her face reminiscing.
As far as future goals for the UMass star, nothing was really set as an individual. Again, priding herself on team spirit, Burnett hopes to make it even farther than the Elite Eight in the NCAA's this year.
But the most exciting part to the whole experience of being at UMass goes beyond just a team. Burnett finds Amherst to be a great change of pace as things are more relaxed than New York. More importantly the entire community gets involved with UMass lacrosse - something she feels is unique in the sport.
"It's really nice to have a great town. The Northampton and Amherst youth lacrosse teams have come watch us play at home and that was really cool. Knowing that they look up to us is awe inspiring while at the same time reminding us that we have an entire community supporting the program," noted Burnett.
With a degree in sport-management and a full year of eligibility left, the Long Island native plans to spend her summer eating pizza and boating on her off days from training. But what she looks forward to most is rejoicing with her second family for her senior year.
Brittany Collens is a senior journalism major on the UMass tennis team and a feature writer for UMassAthletics.com.
The redshirt junior currently holds the program's record for most goals scored in a single-game. Originally, she set the record with eight goals against Saint Joseph's but she almost broke it again with a matching performance three weeks later against George Mason in a thrilling comeback.
When the attack was asked about the two performances, she had nothing but praise for her teammates. Burnett's humility was a common theme throughout the media attention she's received this year – a hallmark of humbleness and teamwork that UMass Lacrosse prides itself on.
"I really rely on everyone else to get me the ball. I started to read my teammates really well as the season progressed and they began to get a sense of my style too. Most of our goals are assisted and we pride ourselves on that," said Burnett.
Her original record for single-game goals wasn't the only record that was set against Saint Joseph's. The team itself broke the record for assists against the Hawks. Burnett explained that head coach Angela McMahon always encourages a team effort noting that "it's always one of our pre-game goals to get at least 10 assists in a game."
Team play is a huge characteristic Burnett looked for when choosing where she wanted to play lacrosse. The Huntington, N.Y., native spoke on the importance of being completive together instead of being competitive with each other. Support and togetherness is something that makes UMass special and is hard to find noted Burnett.
But it wasn't always as easy as it sounds for Burnett who transferred to UMass from the University of Florida where she suffered an injury in her first fall season as a Gator. Not being able to return to the field for some time Burnett ultimately decided that UF wasn't her match and moved closer to New York where her family could watch her play.
It wasn't a difficult decision for Burnett when looking at UMass because instantly she felt the same intensity from the team that she loved at Florida. However, there was a special team dynamic that felt like a family. With experience from being on another team, Burnett really pushes her teammates and friends to realize how special this bond is and to appreciate it's uniqueness.
"These are people that are going to be in my life for the rest of my life," said Burnett. "It's a huge family, a bunch of sisters really."
Burnett reflected back to the time where her friends had nothing but support for her when she injured her knee during the Richmond game during her sophomore year. As a transfer, one might expect it could take some time to find their footing and friends, but the girls rallied around Burnett as she had an articulate cartilage defect.
Wanting to train throughout the summer, Burnett hoped to do rehab for six weeks in hopes of avoiding surgery. Unfortunately, the pain did not go away and knee surgery began to look like the only option available. Burnett's recovery time took about two and a half months and forced her to miss most of the fall season.
"Getting back into things was really tough. My position is on the inside and that requires me to be very explosive," said Burnett.
When recovering from knee surgery, explosiveness and speed can be the hardest and scariest things to regain. Along with the footwork, getting back into the game "shape" and conditioning required of a Division I athlete was an uphill battle the daunted Burnett.
Though faced with injuries and transition, Burnett couldn't have asked for a more fairytale story at UMass in her two years with the program. One of her favorite memories to this date was when teammate Eileen McDonald scored the overtime game-winning goal against Princeton in last year's NCAA First Round as part of a run to the Elite Eight.
'We all just sprinted to her and I just remember putting my arm around her and everyone was going crazy; not in a disbelief but as an 'us-against-the-world' feeling," said Burnett as excitement flooded her face reminiscing.
As far as future goals for the UMass star, nothing was really set as an individual. Again, priding herself on team spirit, Burnett hopes to make it even farther than the Elite Eight in the NCAA's this year.
But the most exciting part to the whole experience of being at UMass goes beyond just a team. Burnett finds Amherst to be a great change of pace as things are more relaxed than New York. More importantly the entire community gets involved with UMass lacrosse - something she feels is unique in the sport.
"It's really nice to have a great town. The Northampton and Amherst youth lacrosse teams have come watch us play at home and that was really cool. Knowing that they look up to us is awe inspiring while at the same time reminding us that we have an entire community supporting the program," noted Burnett.
With a degree in sport-management and a full year of eligibility left, the Long Island native plans to spend her summer eating pizza and boating on her off days from training. But what she looks forward to most is rejoicing with her second family for her senior year.
Brittany Collens is a senior journalism major on the UMass tennis team and a feature writer for UMassAthletics.com.
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