The 2024 Division I women's college lacrosse season kicks off February 9. As is our annual tradition, we’re featuring every team ranked in the USA Lacrosse Preseason Top 20 in the lead up to opening day. Check back to USALaxMagazine.com each weekday this month for new previews, scouting reports and rival analysis.
NO. 18 UMASS
2023 Record: 16-3 (9-0 Atlantic 10)
Final Ranking (2023): Unranked
Head Coach: Jana Drummond
Assistants: Dani Ellis, Lia Laprise
To say the Minutewomen were on a roll entering last season’s Atlantic 10 tournament would be an understatement. After a 16-6 loss to Boston College in game two of the season, UMass rattled off 15 straight wins to claim its 15th regular-season conference crown. But UMass lost to Richmond by seven in the tournament title game.
The two are rivals, but it was a head-turning defeat, given the Minutewomen had blown out Richmond 22-12 in March. Less than a week later, UMass bowed out of the NCAA tournament in a 19-8 loss to Johns Hopkins, marking only the second time an opponent held the Minutewomen to single-digit goals all year.
Statistically, the offense was one of the best in the country in 2023, averaging 15.47 goals per game (seventh in Division I). That unit returns its leading scorer for one last ride in Fiona McGowan. However, there are graduation and transfer-related holes to fill, and head coach Jana Drummond says she’s seen chemistry grow on defense.
TOP RETURNERS
Fiona McGowan, A, Gr. (44G, 48A)
Charlotte Wilmoth, G, Gr. (46G, 9A)
Catrina Tobin, M, Jr. (8.01 GAA, .442 SV%)
McGowan is one of the most complete offensive players you’ll find. She can finish as well as she can feed. The fifth-year player was 10th in Division I in points per game in 2023 (4.84), and she decided to finish her career where she started: In Amherst.
“Her coming back is a true testament to how much Mass means to her and the program,” Drummond said. “She leads through her IQ. She is very vocal, and the team listens to what she has to say.”
One of her favorite targets is Wilmoth, who is also playing her graduate season at UMass and stepping up in leadership.
“It’s really been impressive the leadership role she’s taken and her maturity,” Drummond said. “It’s been nice to see her put the team first and be more dynamic on the offensive end.”
All of those traits will be needed, as the Minutewomen seek to replace other top offensive threats from last year in Amy Moreau (35G, 15A, 51DC) and Alex Finn (42G, 40A).
KEY ADDITIONS
Ava Connaughton, A, Fr. (43G, 115A as sophomore at Westwood, Mass.)
Bridget Valentine, M, Fr. (23G, 7A as senior at Massapequa, N.Y.)
Brigid Welch, A/M, Fr. (Played point guard for Walpole, Mass., basketball team)
If these names sound very Irish, it’s because they are. In fact, all three of these top freshmen set for their rookie years in Amherst recently made the Ireland U19 roster. Notably, Connaughton will look to find similar success as another Westwood alum did for UMass: McGowan. The dynamic attacker impressed this fall when she wasn’t making waves in Dublin.
NOTABLE DEPARTURES
Graduations: Amy Moreau, M; Kylee Bowen, A; Gina Carroll, G
Transfers: Alex Finn, A (Stony Brook); Hannah Heller, D (Florida)
X-FACTOR
Kassidy Morris, A, R-So. (32G, 6A)
Though McGowan’s return looms large on attack, the Minutewomen do have losses to overcome. Morris, who made two starts and amassed 30 goals last season, will likely rise on the depth chart. In addition to being leaned on for more goals, the redshirt-sophomore is also emerging as a vocal leader, something Kylee Bowen provided last season. However, she remains a team player — eager to finish and feed — another trait the Minutewomen valued in Bowen.
THE NARRATIVE
UMass has been a true model of consistency over the years. From February to April, the Minutewomen generally look unstoppable, hence the double-digit regular-season crowns. But things get rocky in May. The Minutewomen last made it out of the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2017. Since then, they’ve fallen in four of the last five A-10 tournament finals, winning in 2021.
On the other hand, they haven’t really taken that next step. Drummond says this year’s team is hungry for a deeper run, but no one is focusing on staying hot in May when the weather in Amherst is too cold to talk about.
“Going further is absolutely our goal,” Drummond said. “We’re not putting that pressure but going game by game. People in conference play their best game against us … That preparation is going to help us in the NCAA.”
Last year’s A-10 tournament champion Richmond saw two of its top players in Arden Tierney (Notre Dame) and Lindsey Frank (Northwestern) transfer. Meanwhile, UMass brings back two of its top offensive threats and a veteran defense that includes draw leader Jordan Dean (143DC), Audra Tosone, Layton Nass, Maya Keenan-Gallagher and Kelly Brown.
All told, UMass should make it to the final game in the A-10 tournament again — but it would like to be inconsistent with tradition from there.
Save percentage is not just a goalie metric. The quality of the shots allowed by the defense matters, too. But for UMass, save percentage was the defining metric. In their best four-game stretch, the Minutewomen defense played lights out, and their keepers’ save percentage was 80 percent. In their worst four-game stretch, it was just 30 percent.
Lacrosse Reference Glossary
