University of Massachusets Athletics

Weekly UMass Sports Notebook

Weekly UMass Sports Notebook A quick look at every UMass team currently in action.



Aug. 28, 2000

RECORD WATCH

                   Overall  Conf.    Conf.     NationalTeam               Record   Record   Ranking   RankingField Hockey       n/aFootball           n/a                         #2Men's Soccer       n/aWomen's Soccer     1-0      n/a      n/a       n/aVolleyball         n/aMen's Water Polo   n/a

LAST WEEK'S RESUTLS

Aug. 25  WSoc   UMass 2, Texas El Paso 0Aug. 26  MSoc   UMass 1, Brown 0 (Exh.)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Field Hockey

  • The field hockey team begins its run for another Atlantic 10 title this week. The Minutewomen will host a scrimmage with Yale on Tuesday, Aug 29 at 5:00 p.m. before opening the regular season on the road against Colgate Wednesday night.
  • The Minutewomen will return home on Saturday, Sept. 2, (1:00 p.m.), for their home opener against New Hampshire followed by Sunday's matchup, Sept. 3, (1:00 p.m.), against Northeastern.
  • UMass, coming off a 15-9 record, 5-0 in the A-10, is predicted by the coaches to finish again a top the conference.
  • The Minutewomen are looking to take the next step after winning four straight A-10 titles. Fourth year head coach Patty Shea has the team directed toward a run at an NCAA championships.

    Men's Soccer

  • The men's soccer team earned a 1-0 victory over Brown in the Friendly's Cup Exhibition soccer match, on Aug. 26, at Totman Field. Junior Fred Kinateder (Waukesha, Wis.) scored the only goal of the game on a cross from freshman Ptah Myers (Columbus, Ohio) at the 77:47 mark of the game. Junior goalie Bryan O'Quinn (Feeding Hills, Mass.) earned the shutout with a total of seven saves.
  • The Minutemen have been picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10 by the coaches. Last season, UMass finished tied for third with a 13-7 overall record and an 8-3 conference mark.
  • The Minutemen will kickoff the regular season when they travel to South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks on Sept. 1. UMass' first home game will be on September 6, at 3:30 p.m. versus Hartford.

    Women's Soccer

  • Junior midfielder Katelyn Jones (Round Lake, N.Y.) broke a scoreless tie at 63:24 to propel UMass (1-0) to a 2-0 victory over Texas El Paso (0-1) Aug 25 at Gateway Regional High School. Jones beat UTEP goalkeeper Sarah Park to the ball, on a cross by junior midfielder Kat Machamer (Highland Ranch, Colo.), and slipped it by Park for what turned out to be the game winner. Junior forward Brooke Bartlett (Clifton Park, N.Y.) added an insurance goal for the Minutewomen, scoring off freshman midfielder Amy Mink's (West Chester, Ohio) rebound shot with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. Junior goalkeeper Julie Podhrasky (Dallas, Texas) made eight saves in her UMass debut.
  • Bartlett was selected as an alternate for the National B Team late last week. She is one of nine defensive alternates for the B team which supplies the U.S. National Team with its alternates.
  • Head coach Jim Rudy's Minutewomen were selected by the Atlantic 10 head coaches to finish third in the Atlantic 10 pre-season poll. Defending tournament champion Dayton was predicted to finish first followed by Xavier. Rhode Island was picked to finish fourth behind UMass, followed by George Washington, St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, La Salle, St. Joseph's, Fordham and Temple.
  • UMass senior forward Kara Green (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), the Minutewomen's top returning scorer, sat out the season opener against UTEP due to injury. She is expected to see action in this weekend's game with Albany at Agawam High School.

    Volleyball

  • The UMass volleyball squad is slated to begin the 2000 campaign this weekend, when it travels to Durham, N.H., to compete at the New Hampshire Tournament Sept. 1-2. The two-day tourney will feature Eastern Michigan and Utah, in addition to host New Hampshire.
  • The Minutewomen return three starters from last season's Atlantic 10 fifth-place team, including senior Rebecca Hasson (Riverside, Calif.) and junior Lymarie Llovet (Arecibo, Puerto Rico). Hasson led the squad in blocks in 1999, averaging 1.28 per game, and ranked third in kills, netting 3.08 per game. Llovet ranked second on the team in digs last year with 2.38 per game, while swatting 0.83 blocks per game.
  • UMass will compete in two more tournaments before embarking on the Atlantic 10 schedule on Sept. 22 at Dayton, travelling to both the Hofstra and Colorado State Tournaments on Sept. 8 and Sept. 15, respectively.

    Men's Water Polo

  • The men's water polo team kicks off the 2000 campaign when it travels to Annapolis, Md., to compete at the Navy Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 2, and Sunday, Sept. 3.
  • The Minutemen are coming off a season that saw them finish 29-6 overall, win its sixth Eastern Championship in seven years, defeat UC San Diego (12-9) to earn third place at the NCAA Championship and earn a No. 8 final national ranking. Head Coach Russ Yarworth, who was named Eastern Coach of the Year for the fourth time, enters his 14th year as head water polo coach at his alma mater.
  • His team returns three starters and 14 letterwinners, including its core of two-meter players. Senior captain Brook O'Neill (Annapolis, Md.), juniors Mike Foley (Tustin, Calif.), Adam Moore (Sinking Spring, Pa.) and Greg Trayer (Reading, Pa.) will lead the way for UMass at two-meters, while junior goalie J.R. VanderWall (Rockford, Mich.) will anchor the UMass defense.

    Football

  • The season-opening game against William & Mary, Aug. 31, will mark the first ever night game played in McGuirk Alumni Stadium. In the previous 117 years of UMass football, there has never been a night game played on the UMass campus. Even though this will be the first home night game for the Minutemen, the players are not strangers to playing games under the lights. UMass has played at least one night game in each of the last three seasons, including a victory at McNeese State in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs.
  • Junior Richard Lucero (Phoenix, Ariz.) takes over the reins of the UMass offense, after being named the new starting quarterback on August 21. In the first two scrimmages this fall, Lucero completed 20 of 31 passes for 240 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Lucero transferred to UMass in January from Phoenix (Ariz.) College. Last fall, he completed 258 of 421 passes for 2,964 yards and 24 touchdowns, and was named the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC) Player of the Year. Lucero also earned All-America honors from J.C. Gridwire, and was named first team All-ACCAC and second team All-Western States Football League. Previously, Lucero played high school ball at South Mountain H.S., where he earned All-State honors from USA Today, the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Gazette.