AMHERST, Mass. – The Lock Haven field hockey team (12-5, 5-2 A-10) dropped the final game of the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Conference slate against No. 20 UMass (13-4, 6-1 A-10), 4-0, on the road on Friday afternoon in Massachusetts.
 
Despite the result, the Bald Eagles were already locked into another matchup with the Minutewomen in the A-10 Semifinals on Thursday, November 3 at 2 p.m. in Amherst, Massachusetts. Prior to today's game, both teams had clinched their spot in the postseason and had sealed themselves into either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed dependent on today's outcome. UMass was chosen as the host prior to the 2022 season and now holds the No. 2 seed going into the tournament thanks to today's win. Saint Joseph's holds the No. 1 seed and will square off with No. 4 seed VCU on November 3 at 11 a.m.
 
The nationally-ranked Minutewomen wasted no time and struck early in the first period when Bella Ianni pounced on a rebound to push UMass ahead 1-0. UMass extended the lead to 2-0 just over a minute later when Claire Danahy deflected home a penalty corner.
 
UMass took the 2-0 lead into the halftime break, and grabbed a goal from Jess Beech in the third period to move ahead 3-0. In the fourth, the Minutewomen secured one last goal with under two minutes to play by Mali Herberholder to seal away the 4-0 win.
 
Despite the score, UMass held only a 15-12 advantage in shots as Jazmin Palma (Entre Rios Providence Argentina/Colegio Sagrado Corazon de Jesus) and Anna May Barbusca (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor) fired off four and three shots, respectively, and forced the Minutewomen goalkeeper into six saves.
 
Penalty corners were knotted up at 5-5, but UMass converted two of those chances into goals.
 
Up Next:
The Haven caps the 2022 regular season on Sunday (Oct. 30) with a road contest against Temple. That non-conference matchup is set for a 12 p.m. start.
 
A full playoff preview and more information on the Bald Eagles semifinal against UMass will be available next week on GoLHU.com