Monday, April 9, 2018

Burnett, Anderson Spark Women's Lax 22-10 Win Over La Salle

Duo combines for nine goals; Holly Turner ties program's career assist record.

MHERST, Mass. - Paced by a combined nine goals from Kiley Anderson and Hannah Burnett, the UMass women's lacrosse team cruised past La Salle 22-10 on Sunday afternoon at Garber Field. Along with Anderson and Burnett's goal performances, Holly Turner tied the program's all-time career assist record (119, Katie Ferris) with five on the day.

The win improves the Minutewomen to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in league play. That extends UMass' NCAA record league win streak to 58 consecutive games and improves the current home win streak to 12 games.

Anderson finished the day with a game-high and career-best tying five goals followed by four from Burnett. Anderson also had an assist to tie Turner, who had a goal and five assists, for a game-best six points on the afternoon. Turner added a team-high and career-high three caused turnovers and eight groundballs as part of an aggressive transition defense by UMass that held La Salle (4-8, 0-4 A-10) to just 7-of-21 on clearing opportunities.

Cassidy Doster notched a pair of goals and three assists, while Bella O'Connor and Abby Walker each added two goals. Overall, 12 Minutewomen scored goals including two-sport athlete Kelly Marra who had the first of her career. In the fall, Marra played in 18 games for the women's soccer team scoring three goals - all game-winners - while adding an assist.

Defensively, Lauren Hiller made eight saves while allowing nine goals to earn the win in cage. Sam Walters closed out the final six minutes of action allowing just one goal.

La Salle was led by Brittany Edwards who scored three goals, while Bridget Ruskey had a pair of goals and an assist. Lynne Frankel took the loss in goal making eight saves in 38 minutes. Molly Loughlin relieved her for the final 22 minutes of play making fives saves while allowing the final four goals of the game.

The Minutewomen held a 43-to-22 advantage in shots thanks in part to the 14 forced turnovers in transition that translated to extra offensive opportunities. Both teams won 17 draws in the game but the Explorers committed 26 turnovers compared to 16 for UMass.

With 8:09 left in the first half, Edwards scored for La Salle to pull within four, 9-5, of the Minutewomen. But UMass closed the half on a three-goal run and then added two more in quick fashion to start the second half building a 14-5 lead at the 28:30 mark. After The Explorers scored the next two goals, the Minutewomen scored five straight capped by a nifty behind-the-back shot in traffic by Anderson that extended the lead to 19-7 with 21:10 remaining.

The teams traded goals in the balance of regulation with Haley Connaughton closing out the scoring with 1:33 to go.

UMass will head south for a pair of road Atlantic 10 match-ups next weekend. The Minutewomen head to George Mason on Friday, April 13 for a 6 PM opening draw before then taking on George Washington on Sunday, April 15 at Noon. Both games will be streamed live on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network.

Recap courtesy of UMass

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