Minutewomen Roll to Seventh Straight Win, 20-9 Over Columbia

AMHERST, Mass. – Leading 10-6 at the half, the Massachusetts women's lacrosse team erased any doubt in the second, outscoring visiting Columbia 5-1 in the third and 5-2 in the fourth for a runaway 20-9 victory on Tuesday afternoon. In the final nonconference game of the season, Katie Peterson tied a career high in goals (4) and points (8). As a team, the Minutewomen had just one first-half turnover and only 11 for the game.

The win marks UMass' seventh straight, improving to 11-2 on the season. The Minutewomen have scored at least 17 goals in all seven contests, eclipsing 20 on four occasions. They have scored 139 goals in that span (19.9) to up their season average to 16.9, second in the nation – only behind North Carolina.

"We were talking about progressing from Saturday with the amount of turnovers and connections all over the field," said head coach Jana Drummond. "I feel like today, we really showed up playing for each other on both ends of the field. Defense would get a stop and we'd push the fast break. We'd win the draw and push the ball, trust each other and trust the ball movement."

Along with Peterson's eight points, Kassidy Morris had seven via five goals and two assists. It marked her seventh straight game with at least six points, coinciding with UMass' win streak. Ava Connaughton added two goals and four assists. Norah Prizzi followed a six-point performance against Akron with four more points Tuesday (three goals, three assists). Dylan Lyons had three goals and an assist, marking her fourth consecutive hat trick and eighth straight multi-goal game.

Peterson scores and the Minutewomen lead 12-7!

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— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) April 7, 2026

Defensively, Marisa Gatz, Lil Hancock and Sienna Diglio all caused two turnovers apiece. Peterson added a career-high 13 draw controls, to go with her big offensive performance.

The score was tied at one, two and three in the early going. UMass turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead, scoring four consecutive goals from four different goal scorers in the span of 3:57 in the first quarter.

The Lions pulled within 6-4 after 15 minutes of play, but that's as close as they would come. The Minutewomen held a 4-2 edge in the second, with Peterson finding Morris with 49 seconds on the clock for a 10-6 halftime advantage.

Columbia pulled within 11-7 early in the third, but a 6-0 UMass run put the game out of reach. Lyons scored all three of her goals in that stretch, the final giving the Minutewomen a 17-7 lead.

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— UMass Women's Lacrosse (@UMassLacrosse) April 7, 2026

Molly Bruner rounded out the scoring with 22 seconds remaining for the 20-9 victory.

"We found so much success today and played so much UMass Lacrosse," said Drummond. "I'm really proud of them."

Final shots were 40-36 in favor of Columbia, with the Lions holding a 20-15 edge in groundballs. UMass finished with an 18-12 advantage in draw controls. Bayley Duffy made nine saves for the Minutewomen, including a number of stellar stops. Ava Kimche finished with six for Columbia.

UMass hits the road on Saturday for a 12 p.m. MAC showdown at Eastern Michigan.

Scoreboard