Massachusetts Completes Home Weekend Against No. 7 Rutgers

University of Massachusetts Field Hockey Notes & Information
Matchup	No. 18 Massachusetts vs. No. 7 Rutgers
Date \| Time	Sunday, Sept. 24 \| 1 p.m. ET
Location	Amherst, Mass. (Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex)
Twitter	@UMassFH
Instagram	UMass Field Hockey
Facebook	UMass Field Hockey

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

This week for the Minutewomen

series history

Friday's matchup marks the 15th meeting between UMass and Rutgers, the Minutewomen hold a 13-0-1 record all-time against the Scarlett Knights.
The two opponents have not faced off since 2007 when the Minutewomen claimed a 1-0 overtime victory in Amherst.

Strong start

The Minutewomen earned a shutout victory against La Salle in their Atlantic 10 home opener on Friday, Sept. 22. Graduate Student Steph Gottwals led the charge offensively for Massachusetts recording her first career two-goal game.
Massachusetts tallied three goals in consecutive games, claiming a 3-1 victory over Saint Louis to open A-10 conference play. Mali Herberhold opened the scoring in the matchup, recording a goal in back-to-back games.
UMass claimed a 3-2 victory over Maine on Sunday, Sept. 10 as Hannah de Gast led the offense with one goal and one assist in the Minutewomen's fourth victory of the season.
The Minutewomen claimed their first shutout victory of the 2023 campaign, defeating Lafayette 1-0 in Amherst, Mass on Sunday, Sept. 3. Sophomore Alexa Collins scored her first career goal to lift UMass to the Sunday afternoon victory.
Sophomore goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen was selected as the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of The Week on Tuesday, Sept. 5 after recording eight total saves over two games against Lafayette and Harvard. Van Herwijnen tallied three saves in the final 30 minutes of play to close out an all-around defensive effort for the Minutewomen against Lafayette and lift them to an impressive 3-1 record to start 2023.
UMass opened their 2023 campaign with two road victories against No. 19 UAlbany and Quinnipiac.
The Aug. 25th win over No. 19 UAlbany was decided in double-overtime with graduate student Emilie Keij scoring the game-winning goal off a penalty corner to lift the Minutewomen to victory.

Experience Everywhere

UMass returns 18 athletes from their 2022 squad which finished with a 14-6 record, including an impressive 6-1 mark in Atlantic 10 play.
Massachusetts boasts five returning players, Jess Beech, Myrte van Herwijnen, Claire Danahy, Mali Herberhold and Josie Rossbach, who earned A-10 All-Conference selection in 2022
Beech, Herberhold and van Herwijnen were each named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team entering the 2023 campaign.
The Minutewomen retain significant production on offense including bringing back all three of their top point scorers from a year ago in Herberhold (23), Beech (19) and Danahy (14).
Sophomore Mali Herberhold, the 2022 A-10 Rookie of The Year, comes into 2023 after playing in all 20 games last season totaling seven goals and nine assists.
Van Herwijnen looks poised to be one of the top goalkeepers in the country after starting in all 20 games a season ago. The sophomore recorded a 1.605 goals against average and a conference-best .733 save percentage. She recorded 85 saves on 200 shots faced and posted three total shutouts on the season.

Home Turf Advantage

Over the last three seasons Massachusetts holds a stellar 23-6 record at Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex.
The Minutewomen have outscored opponents 75-38 in Amherst during that span.
UMass has proven to be dangerous in close games, tallying six wins in overtime or penalty shootouts at home over the last three years.

On the Sideline

Head Coach Barb Weinberg enters her seventh season at the helm of the Minutewomen, holding a career record of 73-47 (.605). UMass has never finished outside of the top-4 in the A-10 standings during Weinberg's tenure.
Massachusetts welcomes two new assistants for the 2023 campaign in Simon van de Loo and Holly Turbill.
Van de Loo brings 16 years of coaching experience to the Minutewomen, having most recently spent the 2022 season as an assistant coach for the Den Bosch men's field hockey team in The Netherlands
Turbill comes to Amherst after serving as both U-16 Boys and U-18 Girls Talent Academy Head Coach at the Surbiton Hockey Club in Long Ditton, Surrey, England.

Up Next

UMass returns to the road as they matchup with VCU on Friday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. The game can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.

Scoreboard

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Players Mentioned

Jess Beech

Alexa Collins

Claire Danahy

Hannah de Gast

Steph Gottwals

Mali Herberhold

Emilie Keij

Josie Rossbach

Myrte van Herwijnen