UMass field hockey defeats Columbia 4-1 – Massachusetts Daily Collegian

The Massachusetts field hockey team played well against Columbia (0-1) on Friday afternoon. The Minutewomen (1-2) took the lead in the first quarter with a surge in offense led by their freshmen.

UMass scored the first goal of the game on a corner kick when Paula Lorenzini fired a shot that the Lions deflected onto the stick of Elani Sherwood. The freshman fired the ball into the net for her first collegiate goal. Just five minutes later, Cara Falconer also scored her first collegiate goal into the left side of the net.

“[The Freshman] “The players have worked so hard,” said head coach Barb Weinberg. “With our older talented players, the younger players have continued to work through the Covid season the last few years and now have found their place in the lineup. So I'm really proud of their process and that they've worked their way up there.”

UMass' third goal of the game came with a minute left in the first quarter. Savanna Henderson took a pass from Dempsey Campbell and fired it into the net to extend the lead to 3-0 just 14 minutes into the game. The goal was Campbell's second assist of the game and Henderson's first collegiate goal.

The final goal of UMass' dominant first half was scored by junior Gabrielle Benkenstein, who headed the ball into the net to take a convincing 4-0 lead into halftime.

At halftime, the Minutewomen changed their goal situation and brought in freshman student Macarena Gonzalez for goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen.

“[Gonzalez] is a really talented goalkeeper and she plays behind one of the best goalkeepers in the country,” Weinberg said. “She and [van Herwijnen] work really well together. I know that for maximum long-term development she needs to play as many games as possible. I thought she came out with tremendous presence and was ready and prepared.”

UMass had only three saves on the day, which speaks to the quality of the defense, but Columbia scored another goal with five minutes left when Nicole Campolattaro slipped a shot past the first-year goalie to make the final score 4-1.

“We played a really good game against Maine last Friday,” Weinberg said. “Regardless of the result, we really tried to take the process out of the game, and we worked a lot in practice this week on our ability to score goals. So as far as the first quarter goes, the practice definitely paid off.”

The Minutewomen have a quick turnaround with a game against Dartmouth scheduled for Sunday, September 8. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

“[The coaches] “We told the team we were going to celebrate this win,” Weinberg said. “We definitely made some mistakes, especially today on defense. We need to improve that by Sunday.”

You can reach Owen Shelffo at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @owen_shelffo.