Undefeated Start Remains as No. 3 UMass Holds On to Beat No. 14 Miami, 3-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Miami	0	0	0	2	2
UMass	2	0	1	0	3

Miami

UMass

AMHERST, Mass. – The third-ranked UMass field hockey team jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on late for a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 14 Miami on Friday afternoon at the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex. Rozárie Mrázová was sensational in goal, making a season-high 13 saves including a number of spectacular stops as the Minutewomen picked up their third top-15 win of the season. Amber Fairon sparked the offense with a goal and assist, with Niamh McKenzie and Lina Kroeger scoring the others.

"Roza had a heck of a game today, her game of the season so far," said head coach Barb Weinberg. "She hasn't faced much action [this season], so sometimes it's a bit easier for a keeper to get into it when you're getting a lot of shots."

The Minutewomen were outshot 30-5 on the day, but converted all three of their shots on goal while effectively defending 15 of the RedHawks' 17 penalty corners.

"Miami is a really good team," said Weinberg. "They are very good on the ball. They marked us well; they pressed us hard. Our basic skills were not on today and we had way too many turnovers. To be quite honest, we're lucky to walk away with one here. I said to the team that it's a reality check and we got the win. That doesn't often happen. We'll learn from this one."

Miami came out with the first four shots and three penalty corners of the game, but Mrázová stood tall with a number of stellar stops on the back line.

The Minutewomen carried that momentum in the game's first goal as Fairon created a penalty corner at the top of the circle. Moments later, she fired a hard shot past Miami goalkeeper Nicky Sjouken for her 10th goal of the season at the 14:15 mark.

Immediately after, the Minutewomen created another corner and it led to their second goal in 23 seconds. This time, Fairon fed McKenzie in front of the goal, who made a diving deflection into the cage to make it 2-0.

This deflection by Niamh McKenzie ??#Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/qVeqtIAmpr
— UMass Field Hockey (@UMassFH) October 2, 2026

The RedHawks held a 6-0 second-quarter edge in shots, with a 2-0 edge in penalty corners, but Mrázová made four stops to keep UMass ahead 2-0 at the break.

Late in the third quarter, a pretty sequence of passing from Chiara Curcio to Emily Barrett to Maddie Archer led to a penalty stroke awarded to the Minutewomen, as Archer was tripped up in the circle. Kroeger converted for a 3-0 UMass lead in the final three minutes of the stanza.

That goal proved important, as Miami fought back in the fourth. The RedHawks held a 10-0 shots edge over the final 15 minutes, with two goals, each coming on second chances. First, Sophie Kent made a defensive save on the goal line, but Maxin Aguirregc put home the rebound at 46:45. That snapped UMass' shutout streak at 399:32. Just over three minutes later, Kylie Coughlin converted another rebound to make 3-2.

The Minutewomen went on to defend the final three penalty corners and multiple Miami opportunities to wrap up the victory.

Final shots were 30-5 in favor of Miami with the RedHawks holding a 17-2 edge in penalty corners. As a team, UMass has now converted five of its last seven offensive corners into goals.

The Minutewomen now shift focus to a Sunday matchup at No. 7 UConn. Gametime is set for 1 p.m.

Scoreboard