Minutewomen Defeat Bellarmine 5-0, Earn Eighth Shutout of The Season

AMHERST, MA. -- No. 16 Massachusetts (13-2, 6-1 MAC) earned their eight shutout of the season, claiming a 5-0 win over Bellarmine (2-13, 2-5) Friday at Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex. Five different players tallied a goal as the Minutewomen controlled the action with a dominant 21-2 advantage in total shots.

Massachusetts secured its first victory over the Knights in the inaugural meeting between the two programs.

Elena Cococeanu, Cara Falconer, Sophie Kent, Kristy Leonard and Elani Sherwood each recorded a goal in the matchup, with Sherwood tallying a game-high five shots. Fiene Jenniskens continued to be a key facilitator, dishing out a pair of assists on the evening.

Myrte van Herwijnen made two saves in the contest, denying Bellarmine's only two shots.

The Knights were led by Luna Tuncay who recorded two shots.

Breaking Down The Action

Massachusetts opened the scoring as Elani Sherwood buried the game's first goal just 91 seconds into the first quarter.
Elena Clococeanu made it 2-0 Minutewomen, firing home a drag flick with 9:19 remaining in the second quarter.
Cara Falconer followed just 1:25 later, deflecting in a pass from Clococeanu to create a 3-0 Massachusetts lead
The Minutewomen went into the halftime break with dominant advantages in shots, 14-0, and penalty corners, 6-0.
Kristy Leonard scored Massachusetts' fourth goal of the afternoon, finding the net on a hard-hit ball from the center of the shooting circle just 2:21 into the second half.
Sophie Kent tallied Massachusetts' second goal of the third quarter, making it 5-0 with 4:51 remaining.
Massachusetts completed the third quarter with a 21-0 advantage in total shots and a 5-0 lead on the scoreboard.
Bellarmine managed two shots in the final quarter but could not find the net, Massachusetts claiming a 5-0 win at the final whistle.

Notable Numbers

1: Massachusetts is one conference win away from clinching at least a share of its first MAC Regular Season Championship.
1: Massachusetts held Bellarmine to two shots in the matchup.
2: Fiene Jenneskens recorded two asssists for the second consecutive game.
5: Five different Minutewomen scored in the contest.
8: Massachusetts drew 8 penalty corners on the afternoon.
21: The Minutewomen tallied 21 shots in the contest, 14 on goal.

Series History

With the win, Massachusetts now holds a 1-0-0 record all-time against the Knights.
The matchup marks the first between the two programs.

Up Next

The Minutewomen hosts regional foe Harvard on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassFH on Twitter.

Scoreboard