The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team fell short in its second game of the season, losing to Penn State 17-9 at Holuba Hall. The Minutewomen (1-1) produced a late third quarter push, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Nittany Lions’ (2-0) early advantage.
Going into the second half with the Minutewomen down by nine goals, they clawed their way back into the game through five goals in the third quarter and another two in the fourth quarter.
“They were moving the ball quickly and finding the open looks versus forcing the looks,” head coach Jana Drummond said. “Once they did that, it was smooth and so pretty, so trying to get that from the start and right away will be very important, and then just finishing it through for each quarter.”
Ava Connaughton contributed two goals and two assists in a strong performance for the Minutewomen, both of which came on Katie Onderdonk goals.
“[Connaughton], for her, recognizing that someone is in need of making the plays, and she was reading the defense and reading the scenario as well,” Drummond said. “Their offense on the other side was setting her up in the backside to find her looks.”
Connaughton’s second goal came off a pass from Kassidy Morris, handing the redshirt senior her fifth assist of the season. On the goal, Connaughton collected the ball and used her strength to body the defender away from her. She quickly shot the ball into the back of the net, earning UMass its eighth goal of the contest.
The junior scored her first goal with less than three minutes left in the third quarter. The goal came via a nifty jump shot that sent the ball past goalie Sydney Manning’s outstretched stick. Connaughton’s goals on Wednesday were her second and third on the season.
“They were going with the flow and playing as one, and everyone was doing their jobs in those scenarios, which helped [Connaughton] see those looks that she could provide for the team and get some points on the board,” Drummond said.
Penn State took an early lead through four goals within the first five minutes of the game, prompting Drummond to call an early timeout.
“We started slow, so [the timeout] was about how can we bounce back,” Drummond said. “How can we come more together as a family and as a unit. We kind of went a little distant, got quiet and too much in our heads. I was like, let’s get going out there, let’s communicate with each other and let’s play more aggressively.”
As play resumed, UMass responded to Drummond’s coaching. Its defense came up with multiple strong blocks which slowed down the Nittany Lions’ offensive momentum.
The Minutewomen looked to push their way onto the scorecard, but luck was not on their side. The ensuing goal they almost produced was immediately called off by the referees due to illegal head contact. Despite UMass manufacturing several quality chances, the ball didn’t find the back of the net for the first 22 minutes.
With 3:05 left in the second quarter, Lil Hancock faked a free-position shot, passing the ball to Morris. After some maneuvering around the 8-meter arc, the ball found its way into Katie Peterson’s net who made the final pass back to Hancock. The junior shot from the top of the crease, breaking past Manning after her several prior saves.
Penn State’s Rocquette Allen was among the major contributors to her team’s early lead. The freshman registered two goals and one assist in the first quarter, and another goal in the second quarter.
The Minutewomen’s next game will be held at Garber Field where they will take on Vermont on Feb. 14 at 12 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Olivia Pang can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @OliviaPang18
