Minutewomen Claim 5-0 Shutout Victory Over Richmond

AMHERST, Mass. -- Massachusetts (10-6, 4-2) scored a season-high five goals to secure a dominant 5-0 victory over Richmond (7-8, 2-4) on a rainy Friday afternoon at Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex. The five goals mark the most for Massachusetts since they recorded six against Saint Louis on Sept. 16, 2022.

Rainy conditions couldn't hold down the Massachusetts offense on Friday as five different Minutewomen found the back of the net. Sophomore Mali Herberhold continued to pace the team offensively scoring her sixth goal of the season, adding to her team-high 16 points.

It was a game of firsts as sophomore Gabrielle Benkenstein tallied her first goal, freshman Alexys Moore earned her first assist and freshman Neva Eisenga recorded her first start of the season for the Minutewomen.

Grad Student Claire Danahy was also a force in the offensive zone recording both a goal and an assist on the day.

Defensively sophomore goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen earned her third shutout of the season, each one coming in Amherst.

Match Quote

"I think that we recorded another contender for goal of the season today," remarked assistant coach Holly Turbill. "We worked this week on that short corner routine, so to see it be executed was fantastic. Overall, a very well rounded performance from the team as we keep getting better and better."

Breaking Down The Action

Despite owning a 4-0 shot advantage Massachusetts was unable to break the ice in the first quarter, taking a 0-0 tie into the second quarter.
It only took 42 seconds for the Minutewomen to find a goal in the second period as Herberhold found the top left corner off a clever penalty corner play to make it 1-0.
UMass ended the quarter with another goal as Emilie Keij converted another penalty corner to make it 2-0 with 4:12 remaining in the first half.
Massachusetts started the third quarter the same way it ended the second as Steph Gottwals converted her fourth goal of the season to make it 3-0 2:28 into the second half.
Benkenstein deflected a Dempsey Campbell assist into the bottom left corner of the net to secure a 4-0 lead with 11:38 remaining in regulation.
Danahy tipped in a cross-net assist from Alexys Moore to close the scoring at 5-0 with 7:08 left in the final frame.

Notable Numbers

1: Freshman Neva Eisenga earned her first start of the 2023 season.
1: Benkenstein scored her first goal of the 2023 campaign after recording three a season ago.
1: Dempsey Campbell recorded her first assist of the season on Benkenstein's fourth quarter goal
1: Freshman Alexys Moore recorded the first point of her UMass career, assisting Benkenstein on her fourth-quarter goal.
2: Junior Hannah De Gast supplied two assists, she is now tied for the team-high with four.
3: The Minutewomen tallied three goals in the second half alone, marking the first time this season they have scored 3 or more goals in a half.
3: Keij notched her third goal of the season and eighth of her career.
3: The Minutewomen have now won three straight games, their longest winning streak of the season.
5: Five different Minutewomen found the back of the net, the most of the 2023 campaign.
6: Herberhold tallied her team-high sixth goal of the season.

Series History

The Minutewomen are now 17-19-0 all-time against Richmond.

Up Next

Massachusetts completes its home slate with senior day against Dartmouth on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. The game can be followed live via umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Claire Danahy

Mali Herberhold

Emilie Keij

Gabrielle Benkenstein

Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Benkenstein

Dempsey Campbell

Claire Danahy

Neva Eisenga

Steph Gottwals

Mali Herberhold

Emilie Keij

Alexys Moore

Myrte van Herwijnen

Players Mentioned

Gabrielle Benkenstein

Dempsey Campbell

Claire Danahy

Neva Eisenga

Steph Gottwals

Mali Herberhold

Emilie Keij

Alexys Moore

Myrte van Herwijnen

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics