The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team defeated Robert Morris, 14-5, in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals on April 30. The top-seeded Minutewomen opened the game with an eight-goal run and closed by scoring five of the final six goals, securing their spot in the conference championship.
With this win, Massachusetts improved its record to 15-2 and extended its winning streak to eleven games. The team will face second-seeded Akron in the MAC Championship Game on Saturday at noon. This marks Massachusetts’ second consecutive appearance in a conference championship game after winning last season’s Atlantic 10 final.
Head coach Jana Drummond said, “We started super strongly. They were playing so free and loose. It was really important for us to keep that for the full 60 minutes. Defensively, we were playing together. We had some moments when we forgot top personnel. If we just tune that in and every moment, be on top of it, we’ll be in a great spot.” Kassidy Morris led the offense with four goals and six points, reaching a total of 97 points this season—tied for third most in program history for a single season.
Dylan Lyons contributed two goals and an assist while extending her streak to twelve straight multi-goal games. Ava Connaughton added two goals as well. On defense, Marisa Gatz recorded three groundballs and three caused turnovers; Katie Onderdonk contributed both defensively with two caused turnovers and offensively with two goals.
The Minutewomen dominated statistically with a significant edge in shots (40-11), groundballs (21-14), draw controls (16-6), and forced nineteen turnovers compared to nine committed themselves. Cate Marshall led draw controls with twelve—a double-digit figure for her eighth time this season—and Bayley Duffy made two saves as goalkeeper.
Looking ahead, Massachusetts will play Akron at Robert Morris on Saturday afternoon for the MAC title.
