AMHERST — UMass fell to Providence, 1-0, Sunday at the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex.
It was a defensive battle in a scoreless first half as only six shots were registered by both teams. The best chance for the Minutewomen was a penalty corner where Georgie McTear got a shot on net and force a rebound, but the Minutewomen could not control the ball and Providence took possession.
UMass limited the Friars (7-5) to two shots in the first half.
“The first 35 minutes was the best hockey we played all season,” UMass coach Barb Weinberg said.
In the second half, the Friars kept the pressure on UMass and it paid off. At 40:52, Izzy Mendez received a cross from Natalie Mitchell and Mendez one-timed it off the right post for the only goal of the game.
“Our midfield and our backfield did not step up to contest their players,” Weinberg said. “We were just giving them a little more time and space to attack.”
Two minutes later, UMass’ leading scorer Antonet Louw had two of the better chances in the half off of penalty corners. But both were deflected away.
“It’s frustrating,” Clodagh Moloney said. “We just couldn’t score. We weren’t clinical.”
The Minutewomen held the shot advantage at 9-7.
UMass made one last effort at the 66-minute mark, pulling goalie Johanna von dem Borne for an extra forward. But the strategy did not pay off.
“We kept going through the right and it was just frustrating,” Moloney said. “I guess Providence caught on and we should have transferred the ball and found a different way of getting it to the circle.”
The Minutewomen fell to 5-7 with the loss.
“We talked to the team about trusting the process,” Weinberg said. “Although we did not get the result, we are moving forward to next weekend against Richmond and VCU, knowing we just played the best hockey we have all season.”
