Minutewomen Shutout La Salle In A-10 Home Opener

AMHERST, Mass. -- The Minutewomen (6-3, 2-0) held strong against La Salle (5-4, 1-1) on Friday, earning a shutout victory in their Atlantic 10 home opener at Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex. Graduate Student Steph Gottwals led the charge offensively for Massachusetts recording her first career two-goal game.

UMass dominated the first quarter offensively owning a 6-1 shot advantage through the first 15 minutes of play. The Minutewomen capitalized on the offensive opportunities as Gottwals scored each of her two goals within the first 10 minutes of play.

La Salle flipped the script in the remaining 45 minutes of action, claiming a 15-6 shot advantage over the last three-quarters of play. Despite the offensive pressure, the Massachusetts defense held its ground continually thwarting the Explorers around the net. The Minutewomen were particularly effective in penalty corner defense keeping the Explorers off the board despite 10 total penalty corners for the opposition.

Goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen led the defensive effort making 9 saves and earning her second shutout of the 2023 campaign. The sophomore made numerous acrobatic saves in the effort while tying her season high for saves.

Match Quote

"It was perhaps a flattering scoreline for us on a day where everything went well in front of goal," stated assistant coach Holly Turbill. "Everything Steph touched turned to magic but La Salle made it really difficult and are certainly a team to watch in the conference moving forward."

Breaking Down The Action

The Minutewomen struck first as Steph Gottwals deflected a Mali Herberhold assist to convert a penalty corner and open a 1-0 advantage 2 minutes into the first period.
Gottwals found the net again, converting a spectacular transition play into a 2-0 Massachusetts lead 10 minutes into the first period.
La Salle dominated possession in the remaining 45 minutes of play, holding a 15-6 shot and 10-1 penalty corner advantage in the final three periods of play.
Graduate Student Emily Crawford recorded the dagger, making it 3-0 Massachusetts with 11 minutes remaining in the final frame of play.

Notable Numbers

2: The Minutwomen move to 2-0 in A-10 play with the victory.
2: Gottwals tallied two goals in the game, marking her first career multi-goal game.
9: Van Herwijnen made nine saves, tying her season-high against Northwestern.
9: With her assist Herberhold continues to lead the Minutewomen with 9 points.

Series History

The Minutewomen are now 29-1 all-time against La Salle, continuing their dominance over the all-time series.

Up Next

UMass completes it's weekend homestand in a top-25 matchup against No. 7 Rutgers on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Steph Gottwals

Emily Crawford

Mali Herberhold

Emilie Keij

Players Mentioned

Emily Crawford

Steph Gottwals

Mali Herberhold

Myrte van Herwijnen

Players Mentioned

Emily Crawford

Steph Gottwals

Mali Herberhold

Myrte van Herwijnen

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics