Hannah de Gast came up clutch for the UMass field hockey team in its 2-1 win over No. 3 UConn during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The senior scored the game-winning goal late in the fourth quarter to send the Minutewomen to their first Elite Eight appearance since 2013.
Tied 1-1, de Gast capitalized on UMass’ fourth penalty-corner of the game after Paula Lorenzini’s initial attempt was blocked by a Huskies defender. de Gast swept in the follow-up chance at 54:24 for their sixth goal of the season (a career high) to complete the comeback for the Minutewomen, which trailed 1-0 at the halfway point.
“We really struggled coming out in the first quarter with our basic skills,” UMass head coach Barb Weinberg said. “It was probably a bit of nerves and just being anxious and we talked about it at halftime. There’s a lot of game left, and we’ve got to really, we call it keep our head in the fridge and our hearts in the oven, and have some more poise out there and that’s exactly what they did in the second half.”
Elite Eight ð½ð¤ðªð£ð!!
Weâre dancing into Sunday ð#RollUMass x #Flagshipð© pic.twitter.com/9JSBtgI6k9
— UMass Field Hockey (@UMassFH) November 15, 2024
Lorenzini scored six minutes before de Gast’s decider, to even the score 1-1 at 48:53, kicking off UMass’ fourth-quarter surge. Junior Alexa Collins assisted on the equalizer for UMass, which outshot UConn 5-0 in the final quarter.
“I think it was a total team win today,” Weinberg said. “In the fourth quarter, we put [Lorenzini] up on the strike line to try to create something for us, and it’s something we have practiced. She’s got some of the best hands on the team and sure enough, she scored our tying goal. Then Hannah de Gast, you know, on that injection spot with our penalty corner is just so poised, she was just able to beat the keeper going down and lift the ball right over her so, yeah, it was an unbelievable finish.”
Juul Sauer put the hosts ahead, 1-0, at 6:48 of the first quarter following a strong opening frame from the Huskies that included three shots and two penalty corners. The Minutewomen responded in the second half with much of the momentum to claim the upset win.
Friday’s victory also served as a bit of revenge for UMass as it lost to the Huskies, 1-0, on Oct. 20.
“Our goal was to put more pressure on their backfield, and I think in the first half, that was the intent, but we weren’t quite getting there,” Weinberg said on the focus this time around against UConn. “So second half, that was the adjustment that was made and I think that made all the difference from the last time we played them. The other thing is, we really weren’t breaking lines to the midfield the last time we played UConn, we were sort of going into the pocket in the midfield and then back to our backfield and around. We were able to play through the middle much more today. I think Claire Danahy, she and Hannah de Gast did a great job of breaking lines and going forward and creating attacks for us.”
UMass felt it was good enough to compete with the best of the best, even after falling in the Atlantic 10 final to Saint Joseph’s last weekend. Now after sending the third-ranked team in the country home, this Minutewomen squad feels they belong to be competing for a national title.
“We know what this team is capable of, and we said it before they announced the brackets for the tournament that you know, we’re not looking just to play one game,” Weinberg said. “This team is capable of more and that’s exactly what they proved today.”
UMass will meet Harvard, which beat Syracuse in another first round game, in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 1 p.m. back in Storrs, Conn. The Minutewomen lost to the Crimson in penalty strokes, 2-1, on Sept. 29. The winner gets a spot in the Final Four.
UMass 76, Monmouth 53 — A huge second quarter helped turn the tides for the Minutewomen, as they erased an early deficit thanks to an impressive showing in the frame en route to a 76-53 non-conference win at the Mullins Center on Friday night.
UMass improved to 2-2 on the season with its second win in a row.
Trailing 12-9 after one quarter, the Minutewomen outscored Monmouth by a whopping 23-5 margin in the second quarter to take a 32-17 halftime lead. Monmouth got within 48-41 after three quarters, but the hosts closed the game well and used a 17-3 run down the stretch to put things away.
Megan Olbrys led the way with 20 points and five rebounds for UMass, while Yahmani McKayle went for 17 points, five rebounds and six assists. Stefanie Kulesza added 10 points and eight boards as UMass shot 46 percent from the floor and 43 percent from 3-point land.
The Minutewomen held a 40-31 edge in rebounding and a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint. Jess Ross pulled down nine rebounds to go with six points for the hosts.
Next up is another home game against Holy Cross on Wednesday.
