Good morning!
The Pioneer Valley is blessed with a strong field hockey tradition that began a half-century ago with Frontier’s Vi Goodnow, Greenfield’s Donna Woodcock, Smith Academy’s Sherry Webb, Mahar’s Karen Grzeslik and Athol’s Kathy Horrigan. Similarly, the UMass glory years began in 1978 under UMass Hall of Famer Pam Hixon who coached for 17 seasons and handed the reins to her former goaltender Patty Shea whose 54 shutouts remain a school record.
The winning continues for at this writing the Minutewomen were 8-0, ranked No. 4 in the country, had outscored their previous three opponents, 15-0, and were trying not to look past yesterday’s game at Kent State and tomorrow’s game at Central Michigan to their Oct. 2 showdown at Gladchuk Field against No.15 Miami.
The RedHawks’ three losses were against top 10 teams — to No. 10 Louisville in double overtime, No. 5 Iowa, 2-1, and defending champ and top seed Northwestern, 2-0.
UMass has vanquished Harvard and Liberty, who were Nos. 3 and 8 when they played, but it’s the RedHawks they’ve circled on the calendar. At last year’s MAC championship on Miami’s campus in Oxford, the Minutewomen lost in double overtime, 2-1. It ended their season while the RedHawks went on to beat Virginia in the NCAA tournament before losing to Northwestern.
Arrive early if you want to stand, real early if you want to sit and bring an umbrella if you want to stay dry when Gladchuk’s old faithfuls douse the field to keep the ball from bouncing.
On the recruiting trail, coach Barb Weinberg and assistant coaches Holly Turbill and Simon van de Loo look for big hitters, aggressive goaltending and finesse around the net — head, heart and hands as the late Gary Dineen would say.
“The variety of the coaches each bring something different to the team,” said Niamh McKenzie, who honed her skill at St. Margaret’s College near her home in Christchurch, New Zealand. McKenzie, who was scouted by Turbill at the Under-21’s in New Zealand, has teamed up with Amber Fairon of Dainfern College in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Emilly Barrett of Brighton College on the south coast of England to account for over 60 percent of the goal scoring.
The UMass Foreign Legion is composed of nine Americans, eight Brits, two from New Zealand, the Netherlands and South Africa, and one each from Germany, Uruguay and the Czech Republic, which is represented by goalkeeper Rosarie Mrazova.
“If the ref knew what I was saying I’d lose my scholarship,” said defender Lina Kroeger of Munich.
During a 6-0 win against the Ohio Bobcats on Sept. 18, senior midfielders Jenna Herbster of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and Megan Carpenter of Stevensville, Maryland, were the only two Americans in the starting lineup. The shutout was retribution for beating UMass, 1-0, last season and spoiling an otherwise perfect conference record. Wearing black uniforms with pinstripe maroon-and-white trim down the sides and knee-high black socks, the Minutewomen moved the ball inexorably down the field. After each goal the sound system blared Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and Mrazova slammed her stick off her blocker.
A Louisville native, Weinberg was a two-time All-American goaltender at Iowa. After assistant coaching stops at Iowa, American University, Maryland and Wake Forest, she was named head coach in 2017 and notched her 100th coaching win on Sept. 6, in a 3-2 shootout win against Brown.
“She’s a huge inspiration and role model,” said former UMass star Claire Danehy who in May was named to the U.S. Women’s Sr. National team. “She knows how to build a team culture-wise.”
“The group is supportive,” agreed McKenzie. “We all help each other. There’s none of the tall poppy syndrome as we call it back home.”
Hadley’s Dave Farnham introduced me to Danehy and others. A financial adviser from Hadley who goes to every home game and lives near several of the players, he supplies them with tomatoes from his vegetable patch, introduces them to neighbors and makes them feel like they’re back home.
“Hey I’m Neva,” said Neva Eisenga, a midfielder from Rotterdam. “I had a really good feeling [about UMass] after talking with coaches. We aim to play forward 100 percent. It’s a player-to-player passing game. You see someone open and keep connecting down the field.”
I told her I was impressed with their long, looping over-the-head passes. “Aerials. It’s definitely a skill,” she said.
“What’s the hardest part?”
“Keeping your head up.”
Asked how she felt about beating Ohio, Eisenga said, “We definitely proved we were the better team today.”
They smile a lot, these players; it’s in their nature.
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Mahar grads Chris Woodcock and Larry Fisher followed up on Red Sox infielder Nick Sogard’s connection to Orange. “You mentioned that Nick Sogard’s uncle played at Mahar for Vic Colo,” emailed Fisher. “Not mentioned is that Nick’s father Steve also played at Mahar for Vic. Steve was a three-sport athlete at Mahar and is in the Hall of Fame at our high school. He went on to play both football and baseball at Tufts University. Graduated Mahar in 76.
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After three weeks and a 3-0 record, The Athletic ranks UMass football 95th but ESPN ranks them 116th of 138 teams. Tonight’s opponent Sacramento State is ranked 135th and 138th, respectively. OK, but why has the line dropped from UMass -6-1/2 to -4-1/2? The game’s in Sacramento, but UMass should be favored by at least a dozen.
Marketing has sent emails pushing next week’s home game against Eastern Michigan on Family Weekend with a package that includes one football ticket, one “flex” UMass hockey ticket and an “Exclusive” 30-oz Tumbler.
“The $75 package is the ONLY way to secure tickets for October 3 vs Eastern Michigan!” Does that mean tickets cost $75? If so they’d better hope Sacramento State doesn’t turn over the apple cart.
Oh well, on the same day a seat in the 300s at Kinnick Stadium to watch Iowa host Ohio State cost over $200.
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SQUIBBERS: Phil Musnick writes that Juan Soto “plays left field like a kid shagging fly balls in the Home Run Derby.” … “Heater” is the new hip phrase, as in “Cowboys offense on a heater right now!” uttered by FOX sports’ Kevin Burkhardt. … ESPN’s Louis Riddick to Dan Patrick on UNC’s 2-1 season: “Bill (Belichick) has got that place starting to come into the kind of image he wants from a football perspective.” … To see the difference between what a franchise does for a community compared to a local business, take a look at the phenomenal landscaping job Peter Moretti has done around Greenfield Savings Bank. … Good to see pool shark Paul Prentice in fine fettle despite the cane walking past the Hayburne Building last week with a $20 scratch ticket in his back pocket. “Bet you wouldn’t guess I had a stroke last week,” smiled Prenty. … BTW, “Hayburne” is a mashup of Haydenville and Shelburne, coined by Fran Lemay after he bought the building to help operate banks he owned in those two towns. … On a recent Felger & Mazz, Tony Massarotti reeled off Red Sox batting averages from pitches 97 mph and higher: Jarren Durran .065; Adley Rutschman .067; Connor Wong .077; Roman Anthony .091; IKF .143; Willson Contreras .170; Wilyer Abreu .170. The only Red Sox that can hit flamethrowers are Caleb Durbin (.364) and Mickey Gasper (.385). … The Jim Reid article brought back memories for Bob Dobias of playing for his high school HOF father Bob Dobias Sr. at East Longmeadow High School. “We’d watch films on a 16MM projector. Painfully reviewing mistakes on a frame-by-frame basis, forward and then back.” … Former Yankees first baseman Mark Teixera on how to tell if your kid is the next Wade Boggs: “Take them out in the yard on a windy day, throw the Wiffle ball and if they can’t hit it with a skinny bat, go do something else.” … NY Post columnist Steve Serby on losing Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart: “This was the kind of doomsday scenario Giants fans never had to endure when Eli Manning was somehow able to start 210 consecutive games.” … After Seastrike beat odds-on favorite Chief Wallabee to win the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga last month, the horse’s ebullient owner of Lowell, Sean Flanagan, told NYRA’s Maggie Wolfendale: “Chad (Brown) told me, ‘I got news for ya, he’s the best training horse in my barn. That’s what he said, I didn’t know if he was just pumping sunshine or what.”