Feb. 8, 2013

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The No. 14 UMass women's lacrosse team will open the 2013 season with a pair of games in Los Angeles beginning Friday when the Minutemen face No. 1 Northwestern at 6 PM (EST). On Sunday, UMass will then face Southern California at 4 PM (EST) which is in its first season as a Division I lacrosse program.

The weekend will have special meaning for UMass head coach Angela McMahon and assistant coach Brianne LoManto as they take on their former head coach in Kelly Amonte Hiller of Northwestern. McMahon will then face her former teammate in Lindsey Munday who is the head coach of USC.

UMass finished 2012 with a 19-2 overall record and a 7-0 record in the Atlantic 10. Last season marked the second consecutive year that the Minutewomen posted a perfect mark in league play.

One of the top offensive teams last season finishing first in the nation in points per game, UMass was ranked No. 10 in the final poll of 2012. The Minutewomen won their fourth straight Atlantic 10 Championship Title before winning an NCAA Play-In game against Canisius. UMass fell on the road in a tightly fought battle at Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier, Inside Lacrosse also announced its preseason All-America squad with Katie Ferris being named to the second team. The native of Carthage, N.Y., finished 2012 as the nation's fourth leading scorer and set UMass and Atlantic 10 single-season scoring records with 98 points.

The 19 wins in 2012 were the second most in program history. UMass will open the 2013 season with a 20-game win streak alive against conference opponents.