The No. 14 Massachusetts field hockey team completed a commanding 4-0 victory over Boston University to earn a matching record on the season. After its first two games at home this season, the Minutewomen (4-0) have not lost at Gladchuk since 2023.
“I thought it was a good win for us,” head coach Barb Weinberg said. “We definitely converted when we needed to. There were points in the game that were fairly sloppy, so going into next week … we need to just make sure that we start connecting a bit better.”
Freshman Emily Barrett recorded a brace in Sunday’s match, opening and closing scoring on the day. This is the England native’s second time reaching this mark in just three games, and she leads the team in scoring.
With less than two minutes left in the second quarter, Fiene Jenniskens pitched the ball from outside the circle up towards the net to connect with Barrett. From there, the freshman worked against a Terrier (0-3) defender to push it past the goal line, finding the gap between Terrier goaltender Sophie Ortyl’s stick and right leg guard.
“[Barrett is] such a natural goal scorer,” Weinberg said. “I think she was a bit frustrated on Friday that she couldn’t finish one or two, but today she really broke out and was able to convert.”
Of the nine penalty corner opportunities UMass had, it converted on two of them, while successfully denying all six of BU’s attempts. Barrett’s second goal came towards the end of the fourth quarter from a corner attempt. Jenniskens and Megan Carpenter had the assists.
Not even a minute after the freshman’s tally, Neva Eisenga improved the Minutewomen’s lead to 2-0 just before time expired in the quarter.
Off one penalty corner insertion from Elani Sherwood, Jenniskens settled the ball for Eisenga, who quickly took a strong shot, finding a bounce that lofted high over Ortyl. The junior has scored in three of UMass’ four games this season, the most of any player on the team.
“I think it completely changes the momentum,” Weinberg said. “I would say we probably had most of the possession in the first half, but if the score is still 0-0, you know, a sport could go either way. So that was really good to get those two goals before halftime.”
Jenniskens had three assists in the match, bringing her total to four this season. Between her and Barrett’s multi-point performances on Sunday, the freshmen are proving their offensive capabilities this season.
Minutewomen goaltender Myrte van Herwijnen earned her third shutout this season. The Netherlands native made seven saves in the match to keep UMass undefeated.
“It’s great,” Weinberg said. “We were 0-2 coming out of the first weekend last season, so to come away with a really strong start, I think immediately we just need to make sure even though we’re winning, we still need to take lessons out of these wins to continue to improve.”
Sherwood put in the work to set up the game’s penultimate goal. Just inside the circle and in front of the backline, the sophomore dodged through Terriers to get up by the left goalpost, where she took a shot that Alexa Collins deflected past the junior goaltender.
The Minutewomen are on the road next for their biggest test yet this season as they take on No. 8 Boston College. The matchup is on Friday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
“I think we just really need to clean up our connections,” Weinberg said. “We had a ton of unforced errors when we weren’t under pressure. I think the legs were a bit fatigued from the shootout win on Friday night. So [we] really just [need] rest and recovery this week and [need to be] able to clean up our basic skills.”
Caroline Burge can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Caroline_Burge.
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