NCAA Bracket

Nov. 11, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. - A second half goal by Jill Powers combined with a suffocating defense led the 17th-ranked UMass field hockey team to a 1-0 victory over 19th-ranked Kent State on Tuesday afternoon at Garber Field to advance to the NCAA Tournament. It is UMass' second-straight trip to the NCAAs and 21st in program history. The Minutewomen will visit third-seeded Syracuse on Saturday at 11:30am in the opening round.

On a cold, overcast day in Amherst, the Atlantic 10 champion Minutewomen utilized a strong defense, led by freshman goalie Alesha Widdall's four saves, and a relentless press to keep the MAC champion Golden Flashes on their heels for much of the game. The shutout was Widdall's third-straight and seventh this season.

UMass controlled the play early in the game and had many scoring chances thorughout the first half. One of the best opportunities came with just over 14 minutes left when Cher King fired a pass into the circle that Katelyn Orlando tipped towards the corner of the goal, but Kent State goalkeeper Caroline Suitch was able to get a pad on it.

With just under two minutes remaining in the half, the Minutewomen earned a penalty corner. Makaela Potts' initial shot was stopped by Suitch and Erin Parker pounced on the rebound and sent it towards the open goal, but defender Stephanie Bernthal knocked the shot away for a defensive save.

At halftime the game was still scoreless with UMass outshooting Kent State, 8-5, while outcornering the Golden Flashes, 4-2.

UMass turned up the pressure even more in the second half. After drawing two early penalty corners that didn't result in goals, the Minutewomen got on the board following a free hit from outside the right side of the circle.

Jaime Bourazeris hit a hard ball from outside the circle in front of the Flashes' goal where Powers knocked the pass down at the far post. After settling the ball, she fired a shot past Suitch to give UMass all the offense it needed. The goal was Powers' ninth of the season, placing her third on the team and seventh in the A-10.


While the offense was working to create scoring opportunities, the defense was locking down the Kent State attack that had scored 61 goals this season. The Minutewomen also killed off five minutes of being a player down when Potts was assessed a yellow card with 6:20 remaining.

For the game, UMass outshot Kent State, 18-8, and won 10 penalty corners to the Golden Flashes' four.

With the win, UMass is now 4-0 all-time in NCAA play-in games. Last season the Minutewomen played at Ivy League champion Princeton and won 2-1.

The Minutewomen's season win total of 17 is the program's highest since the 2000 season, when they went 19-4 on the way to the NCAA quarterfinals.