The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team’s season came to an end on Friday after a physical game against Navy. The Minutewomen (16-3, 7-0 Mid-American) went into the half with a dominant lead, but a high-scoring third quarter led to victory for the Midshipmen (19-1, 8-1 Patriot).
Before the home team went on its run, Ava Connaughton opened the scoring for UMass less than a minute into the third quarter. Lil Hancock capitalized on a turnover and passed the ball up the field to Dylan Lyons, who made a breakout run into the offensive zone. With only one defender back for Navy, Lyons passed to Connaughton. The attacker deked around the goalie and shot the ball past Felicia Giglio.
Just over a minute later, Connaughton struck again with a diving shot that got past the Midshipmen goalie. The Westwood, MA native received a pass from Norah Prizzi and moved out from behind the net to the crease, where she shot the ball past three defenders and into the back of the net.
“It was just really focusing on the minute-by-minute, not getting too far ahead, knowing that [Navy] is a very respectable opponent and that they always fight back,” head coach Jana Drummond said. “I think for us, it was just [to] stay composed, stay collected and that it didn’t go down to the last minute of this game [and] potentially overtime for us to fight and compete.”
After Connaughton scored her second goal of the quarter, head coach Cindy Timchal called a timeout. Following the break, the Minutewomen only scored twice more in the quarter.
On the other side of the field, Navy responded with eight goals to give it a 14-12 lead going into the fourth. Five of those goals came with less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
With 4:52 remaining in the third, the Midshipmen evened the scoring when Kat McAteer entered the offensive zone off a pass from Maggie DeFabio. Running into the 8-meter arc, the senior launched the ball past Bayley Duffy and into the back of the net.
McAteer’s goal came less than 20 seconds after DeFabio’s first goal of the contest. Making a run across the 8-meter arc, DeFabio collected a pass from Bella Paradiso. The midfielder gathered herself quickly before releasing the ball past Duffy.
The Summit, N.J. native’s second goal of the contest came with 3:40 remaining in the third under heavy coverage from the UMass defense. DeFabio received a pass from McAteer at the top of the crease and lobbed the ball over the heads of three Minutewomen defenders and Duffy to give her team a two-goal lead.
Navy’s first goal of the third quarter came just seconds after Timchal’s timeout was called when Taylor Miles found the back of the net for her second goal of the game. The sophomore made a run around the 8-meter arc, launching the ball past Duffy under heavy coverage from Heather Clark.
UMass tried to accomplish a comeback of its own as it tied the game at 15 halfway through the fourth quarter. Exchanging goals, the game came down to the wire as the Midshipmen took the lead with 34.5 seconds remaining.
The Minutewomen concluded their season with a 16-3 overall record and an undefeated 7-0 conference record. Navy moves on in the NCAA Tournament to face Syracuse on May 10 at 1:00 p.m..
Olivia Pang can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @OliviaPang18.
