 "Photo: Courtesy Jesse Garber")
PHILADELPHIA - Prior to the start of the Atlantic 10 field hockey championship game on Saturday, Massachusetts coach Justine Sowry turned to her team and made a spider out of both her hands. She threw the imaginary spider on the ground and crushed it beneath her feet.
It was a symbolic move for the top-seeded Minutewomen, who defeated the Richmond Spiders, 2-0, for their second straight A-10 tournament title.
"Words can't even describe it," UMass senior midfielder Mary Shea said after the game. "It's just amazing. It's something we had to work hard for."
Sowry credits the Minutewomen's motivation to their narrow win over Temple in double overtime to cinch the A-10 regular season title.
"Our philosophy this weekend was total team effort." Sowry said. "Our team played 100 percent brilliant [field] hockey in the final."
Sowry, who won the A-10 Coach of the Year for her second time in as many years, was proud of her team's accomplishment.
"It means the world," she said. "To come out with a championship, we achieved our goal for this year."
On Friday, the No. 18 Minutewomen (16-4, 8-0 A-10) outscored Saint Joseph's, 3-0, to enter the championship. Sophomore forward Katie Kelley scored all three goals for UMass. The Minutewomen finished the conference with an unblemished 8-0 record.
"It's really special that we made it here," senior midfielder Erin Parker said.
The title game was played at Temple University's Geasey Field, home to one of the largest permanent AstroTurf fields in the world. The Minutewomen are used to a slightly different surface on Garber Field, but they adjusted quickly.
"The ball tends to bounce a little bit more," Shea said. "We definitely adapted well."
The steady rain that drenched Philadelphia for the better part of the morning hours cleared up for the 2 p.m. game.
"It was a great day for a game," Parker said. "The turf was nice and wet and it made corners easier."
Both of UMass' goals were off of corners. Shea scored the initial goal in the middle of the first half off a rebound.
"We were scrambling for the net," Shea said, describing the goal. "And [a Richmond player] made it pretty easy for me to hit it in."
The Minutewomen dominated the first half with seven shots on goal - scoring once on Shea's shot.
"This is some of the most consistent passing play hockey all year," Sowry said.
UMass' second goal came in the second half with 21 minutes, 12 seconds to go. Junior forward Cher King scored off a corner pass from sophomore defender Jackie Tait.
"You just send the ball in and trust that someone is going is to be there," Parker said.
Tait was named the A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player after the UMass defense had what Shea called "an awesome game."
"They were really organized reading Richmond's press," she said.
The ball spent the majority of the final 15 minutes of the second half in UMass territory. Freshman goalkeeper Alesha Widdall was up for the challenge, making two late saves to preserve the shutout.
"Richmond is a good team offensively," Parker said. "They had the potential to give us a lot of trouble."
Richmond coach Gina Lucido was impressed with the Minutewomen.
"UMass is just a very disciplined and well-coached team. I think one of their greatest strengths is that it's really tough to finish on them," she said.
The Minutewomen are set to play Kent State at Garber Field at 1 p.m. on Tuesday for the NCAA tournament play-in game.
Five members of the Minutewomen made it onto the A-10 All Championship Team: Tait, King, sophomore defender Jamie Bourazeris, sophomore midfielder Makaela Potts and sophomore forward Katie Kelly.
Melissa Garber can be reached at editorial@dailycollegian.com.
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