On a brisk and windy afternoon, the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team extended its win streak to seven games with a 20-9 win over Columbia. Fueled by a four-goal performance from Katie Peterson and five goals from Kassidy Morris, the Minutewomen (11-2, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) continued to show their composure.
“I feel like [Tuesday] we really showed up playing for each other on both ends of the field,” Head Coach Jana Drummond said. “[On] defense, we had good stop[s]. We had a fast break, [and] we won the draw. We were pushing fastbreaks and trusting each other [and] trusting the ball movement, which I felt we found so much success [Tuesday] and really played so much UMass lacrosse.”
After the Lions (6-6, 0-4 Ivy League) went ahead with 5:41 left in the first, UMass responded with a four-goal run. To conclude the run and go ahead by three, senior Norah Prizzi scored her second goal of the contest.
With 1:31 left in the first quarter, Prizzi won a free position shot. Lining up on the 8-meter arc, she ran towards Columbia goalkeeper Ava Kimche, shooting over her shoulder to bring the scoreline to 6-3.
The Kingston, N.Y., native ended the day with two goals, bringing her season tally to 10. Her first of the day came in a woman-up situation about five minutes into the matchup with an assist from Ava Connaughton.
Connaughton’s final assist came on Molly Bruner’s goal with 22 seconds left in the contest. Receiving the ball inside the 8-meter arc, the sophomore controlled the ball and moved to the face of the goal, shooting over Kimche’s shoulder and into the back of the net. She now sits at three goals on the season.
Peterson, who has taken control of the draw this season, put in four goals Tuesday. Her third goal came with 6:31 left in the third quarter with a woman-up on the turf. After receiving the ball from Dylan Lyons outside the 12-meter fan, the junior maneuvered through several Lions defenders before shooting into the back of the net inside the 8-meter arc.
All but one of the attackers’ four goals on the day were unassisted. Morris assisted on her first goal of the afternoon, a connection that produced consistent offense during the matchup.
“[There is] just consistency with [Peterson],” Drummond said. “She comes in, she’s coachable [and] she’s ready to work. She can be yelled at, but she’s also very tuned into what little adjustments she can make and how she can help. She’s very even keeled, not getting too high emotions, not getting too low. Which is so impressive and impactful being a captain, being an attacker [and] being on the draw.”
Of Peterson’s four assists, three went directly to Morris. To open the day, Peterson passed inside the 8-meter to Morris, who spun around to face Kimche in the net and shot over her shoulder.
While the Minutewomen have dominated all season long offensively, many of Columbia’s shots came from lapses in defensive pressure and attention from UMass.
With 12:30 on the clock in the fourth, the Minutewomen were awarded a restart after Peterson received contact from the draw control. Lil Hancock attempted to pass to a teammate, but the ball was intercepted by the Lions’ Michelle Zhai, who passed Hancock over to Anna Becker. Becker broke away, running down field to Bayley Duffy’s net, shooting over her shoulder to bring the score to 17-8.
Over the season, Drummond has stressed the importance of the need for her team to have fewer turnovers. Against Akron last Saturday, UMass committed 18, and on Tuesday, the total was 11.
“A lot of the focus [these past two days] was taking care of the ball and not forcing and having silly … uncaused turnovers,” Drummond said.
The Minutewomen will next face Eastern Michigan on Saturday, April 11. First draw is scheduled for 12 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Emma Bensley can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @emmabensley4.
