Flight number one on Sunday was filled with a lot of speculation. The UMass women’s lacrosse team had already beaten Richmond, 10-7, to win its eighth straight Atlantic 10 championship and assure itself a spot in the 26-team NCAA Tournament.
So based on what the players new about results from other conference tournaments, as well as rankings and RPIs, they wondered who they might face and where as they traveled from Pittsburgh to Detroit.
The Minutewomen got their answer gathered around a computer projection on the wall at Gate A29 of Detroit Metro Airport, where they watched the NCAA’s online selection show while waiting for their Delta Airlines connection to bring them home. Late-night travelers watched with some curiosity as the Minutewomen cheered when their game against Princeton appeared quickly. They’ll play the Tigers on Friday at Cornell. The winner will face the winner of Cornell and Canisius, Sunday. Times for all games haven’t been announced yet.
“We’re really happy with our draw,” UMass coach Angela McMahon said. “I think it’s a great draw for us.”
UMass, which is unseeded (only eight teams earn seeds), was ranked No. 16 entering the week. Princeton (11-5), which lost its first Ivy League Tournament game to Cornell, was ranked No. 13. League champion Cornell, which is the No. 8 seed in the tournament, entered the week at No. 18. Canisius is unranked.
McMahon said the unusual selection party would make for a good memory.
“I think it’s fun. The most important thing is we’re all together,” she said. “The girls are tired but in great spirits. We’re looking forward to playing Friday.”
UMass might have gotten into the tournament even it had lost Sunday, but that was far from guaranteed and the championship game with Richmond was loaded with anxious moments.
Early in the second half, Richmond had the Minutewomen on the ropes. The Spiders led 7-6 with under 19 minutes left, giving the sixth-seeded underdogs momentum. But Callie Santos scored with 18:32 left to tie the game, 7-7.
The outcome hung in the balance for the next three minutes before a Richmond infraction gave Abby Walker a free position shot. The UMass sophomore had just three goals all season before that moment, but she buried the shot to put the Minutewomen ahead, 8-7.
UMass (18-1) scored the final two goals, one by Hannah Burnett and one by Holly Turner, to seal the win.
Aileen Kelly, the back half of UMass’ unusual goalkeeper timeshare, was sharp in the second half with seven saves.
“There have been very few times in the season we’ve even been down (in the second half),” McMahon said. “I really credit my team for being able to handle that sort of adversity and put it away. I had a lot of anxiety on the sideline. Richmond had a great game plan and we had to adjust.”
McMahon hoped her team being forced to deliver in tight moments would be valuable in the NCAA Tournament.
“As long as we learn from it. As long as we learn and grow over the next few days so when we face that pressure situation we handle it a little bit better,” she said. “I think this team is capable of that.”
Hannah Murphy was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, largely due to her faceoff work. She controlled 13 draws in the tournament and had three goals in UMass’ semifinal win over Saint Joseph’s. Erika Eipp, Eileen McDonald, who scored UMass’ first four goals Sunday, Santos and Kelly were on the all-tournament team.
In previous seasons, the intersection of the NCAA Tournament schedule and UMass’ academic calendar meant the Minutewomen were preparing for tournament play at the same time as they were taking finals. This year, UMass’ school year is complete.
“It’s phenomenal. I love the calendar this year. Each of the past year this has been finals week and we can’t always find time to get together for practice,” McMahon said. “This year we can focus to what we need to do to come away with a win.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage