No. 4 Minutewomen Roll to 7-1 Win at Ball State

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Massachusetts	1	1	2	3	7
Ball St.	0	1	0	0	1

Massachusetts

Ball St.

MUNCIE, Ind. – The No. 4 UMass field hockey team exploded for five second-half goals to erase any doubt in a 7-1 win at Ball State on Friday afternoon. With the win, the Minutewomen improve to 14-1 and 6-0 in the MAC. UMass scored a season-high five penalty corner goals on the afternoon while allowing just five total shots to the Cardinals.

"[We had] a good press today," said head coach Barb Weinberg. "Work rate was really high. We were able to win the ball pretty high up on the field. Obviously, the higher up you win it, the less distance you have to travel to get into your attacking zone; that was a huge part of today. Our press was very good and we were able to get a lot of outcomes in our attacking third because of that."

Emily Barrett and Neva Eisenga each scored two goals to lead the offense while Sophie Kent, Lina Kroeger and Amber Fairon scored the others. Four different Minutewomen recorded multiple assists, led by a career-high four from Megan Carpenter and two apiece from Niamh McKenzie, Cara Falconer and Fiene Jenniskens. Carpenter's four assists tied the program record.

UMass' 12 assists on the afternoon tied a program record set on Oct. 12, 2013 at Saint Louis. The Minutewomen's 26 points as a team (seven goals, 12 assists), is fifth most in program history and most since that game against the Billikens.

Record-tying day for the Flagship???? 12 team assists. 4 from Megan Carpenter. Both matching program records. ?? #Flagship ?? https://t.co/s7wwL88irs
— UMass Field Hockey (@UMassFH) October 17, 2026

After a scoreless start, UMass got on the board in the final seconds of the first off a penalty corner, as Eisenga posted her first of the game.

Midway through the second quarter, Barrett finished her first of the afternoon in impressive fashion. Ball State answered less than two minutes later to pull within 2-1 at the half.

UMass scored both goals of the third quarter, direct off corners, as Kent and Kroeger finished for a 4-1 lead entering the fourth.

Lina Kroeger gives UMass a 4-1 lead as we head to the fourth! ?? https://t.co/UtoH9FkpQZ ?? https://t.co/awwoZw7H2i #Flagship ?? https://t.co/6ylb40nkfe
— UMass Field Hockey (@UMassFH) October 16, 2026

The Minutewomen added three more in the third, with Eisenga and Fairon firing home goals off corners at 46:07 and 54:56. In between, Barrett tallied her second. A tremendous sequence from the UMass defensive zone led to McKenzie finding Barrett for a second time, who fired a high shot past Ball State goalkeeper Carleigh Hofelich for her 11th goal of the season.

The build-up. The connection. The Emily Barrett finish. A+ all around. ???? You'll want to check this out @espnassigndesk ?? #Flagship ?? | #SCTop10 https://t.co/ksNefA37Y7
— UMass Field Hockey (@UMassFH) October 16, 2026

In the final minutes, Barrett came up with a pair of defensive saves on penalty corners to help preserve the 7-1 final.

For the game, UMass held a 21-5 edge in shots and 15-4 advantage in penalty corners. Colleen Conlan made one save for her third win of the season across Hofelich, who made nine.

The fourth-ranked Minutewomen return to action on Sunday when they travel to Bellarmine for a 1 p.m. start.

Scoreboard

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Players Mentioned

Emily Barrett

Megan Carpenter

Colleen Conlan

Neva Eisenga

Amber Fairon

Cara Falconer

Fiene Jenniskens

Sophie Kent

Lina Kroeger

Niamh McKenzie

Neva Eisenga

Emily Barrett

Megan Carpenter

Amber Fairon

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics