Massachusetts Drops Heartbreaker To Harvard In Penalty Shootout

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Massachusetts (7-3, 2-0) dropped a heartbreaker, falling 2-1 (2-3) in penalty shootouts to No. 10 Harvard (7-1, 2-0) on Sunday. The Minutewomen totaled 17 shots, including an 8-4 advantage in overtime, but could not find the game-winner falling in the back-and-forth battle

Goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen led the Massachusetts defense, recording six saves on 12 shots faced. The junior was impressive in overtime, making three stops in penalty shootouts to put the Minutewomen moments from victory.

Grad Student Claire Danahy continued to provide a steady presence offensively, netting a penalty corner goal to provide the equalizer just minutes into the fourth quarter. The goal marked her fourth of the season, she now leads the team with 16 points. Fellow grad student Paula Lorenzini provided the assist on the goal, her second of the season.

Harvard goalkeeper Tesha Shahbo led the Crimson, posting eight saves on the afternoon.

Breaking Down The Action

The Minutewomen recorded the game's first shot, as Mia Smith fired a ball just wide of the net with 7:14 left in the first quarter.
Smith's shot remained the only scoring opportunity of the first quarter for either team as the first 15 minutes of play expired with the score 0-0.
The Minutewomen weathered the first sign of pressure from Harvard as van Herwijnen recorded a save on two defensive penalty corners to hold the score at 0-0 just one minute into the second quarter.
Massachusetts continued to slog through a defensive battle as the halftime whistle blew with the score 0-0 and just three total shots combined between both teams.
Danahy created a scoring opportunity with 4:43 remaining as she penetrated the shooting circle but saw the shot go just wide.
Harvard scored the first goal of the game as Marie Schaefers converted a Crimson penalty corner to make it 1-0 with 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Danahy wasted no time finding the equalizer, converting an attack penalty corner to make it 1-1 just 1:50 into the fourth quarter of play.
Despite multiple scoring opportunities from both sides, regulation ended 1-1 sending the Minutewomen into overtime for the second consecutive game.
Massachusetts started the overtime period with two attack penalty corners but could not find the game-winner.
Despite holding a 5-0 advantage in shots through the first overtime period, the Minutewomen could not secure the golden goal, heading to a second overtime period still square at 1-1.
The second overtime period was more of the same as both teams came up with timely saves to keep the score level and force a penalty shootout.
Van Herwijnen made three penalty shootout saves, but the Minutewomen could not find the game-winner, eventually falling 2-1 (2-3) after six rounds of penalty shots.

Notable Numbers

2: Lorenzini dished out her second assist of the season.
4: Danahy tallied her fourth goal of the season.
6: Van Herwijnen tallied six saves on the afternoon, allowing just one goal in regulation on eight shots.
16: Danahy now leads the Minutewomen with 16 points on the season.
17: Massachusetts recorded 17 shots in the contest, 13 of which were on goal.

Series History

With the result, Massachusetts now holds a 15-10-1 advantage all-time against the Crimson.

Up Next

UMass returns to The Chuk to host Saint Louis on Friday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. in Amherst, Mass. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.

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