Oct. 26, 2008

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AMHERST, Mass. - After 70 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods, the #17 UMass field hockey team (14-3, 6-0 A-10) and Temple (7-11, 3-2 A-10) found themselves still tied, 1-1, sending the game to penalty strokes where the Minutewomen won, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at Garber Field. On Senior Day, Katelyn Orlando scored UMass' lone goal in regulation and then all three seniors, Orlando, Erin Parker, and Mary Shea, all scored on strokes to get UMass the win and with it the regular season Atlantic 10 Conference title. Alesha Widdall made four saves, followed by three stops in the stroke-off, to earn the victory in goal.

The A-10 regular season title is UMass' first outright crown since 2001, which was also the last time the Minutewomen went undefeated in conference play. 17th-ranked UMass will have the No. 1 seed when it defends its 2007 title in the Atlantic 10 Championship to be held at Temple on Nov. 7-8.

Widdall set the tone by saving the first penalty stroke and went on to stop two more, allowing only one to score. Orlando led off by scoring for the Minutewomen, and after a save by Sarah Dalrymple, who entered in goal for Temple after overtime, Parker and Shea found the back of the net to clinch the win.

For the game, UMass outshot Temple, 26-13, and drew 13 penalty corners to the Owls' eight.

After failing to score on its first five penalty corner opportunities, UMass broke through and got on the board with 9:15 left in the first half. Off the insertion, Mary Shea passed to Jaime Bourazeris, who sent the ball towards goal. Like she has all season, Orlando was in the right spot and tipped it in for her conference-leading 13th goal of the season. Bourazeris picked up her fifth assist on the play.

After one half, UMass dominated the stat sheet, leading in shots, 10-1, and penalty corners, 8-1.

In the latter stages of the second half Temple began to apply more pressure to the UMass defense. The Owls earned successive penalty corners with just under seven minutes left. After Widdall made a save on the initial corner, the Owls got on the scoreboard with the second opportunity. Wanner took a pass from Jamie Adams and sent a hard shot that made its way through traffic and into the UMass net, knotting the score at one.

In the first 7-on-7 overtime period, UMass controlled the play throughout. The best chance came when Jackie Tait sent a strong shot on goal off a penalty corner, but Hanshue was able to make the save. The Minutewomen outshot Temple, 7-0, in the period but were unable to score.

Shots were tighter in the second overtime, with UMass holding a 4-3 advantage. Hanshue made to more great saves that period on reverse stick shots by Shea and Cher King to keep the Owls alive.

Orlando, Parker, and Shea were honored, along with their families, in a Senior Day ceremony held just prior to the game.

It was the first time since Oct. 17, 2004 at Saint Joseph's that UMass had a game go to strokes. That contest was also a 2-1 Minutewomen victory.

The Minutewomen close the regular season on the road when they take on Providence on Saturday at 1 p.m.