NCAA Rewind: Dean's Draw Record Highlights UMass' Season

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2025 — look out for our NCAA Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings later this summer — our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking a last look at the 2024 college lacrosse season.

To do that, we’re taking a journey through 30 of the top teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse to see what went right, what went wrong and how we should feel about the season.

UMASS

USA Lacrosse preseason/final ranking: No. 18/unranked
2024 record: 13-5 (9-0 Atlantic 10)

What went right: The Minutewomen owned the Atlantic 10’s regular-season slate, earning the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament after going 9-0 in the lead up to the postseason. They accomplished this on the strength of the best single-season draw performance in NCAA history, as Jordan Dean set a new high-water mark with 261 draw controls. When you’re winning possession at that clip (2nd nationally, 67.7 percent of draws won), a lot of other issues can be masked.

The offense was again strong, finishing tied for 11th nationally (15.28 goals per game) behind three superstars — Fiona McGowan (32G, 56A), Kassidy Morris (63G, 16A) and Charlotte Wilmoth (55G, 20A). UMass assisted 162 of its 275 goals, and its 9.0 assists per game ranked second behind Stony Brook (9.1).

What went wrong: UMass missed the NCAA tournament for two reasons. First, and the most obvious reason, is because the Minutewomen failed to continue their A-10 hot streak into the postseason by falling to Richmond in the conference championship game. With no automatic bid secured, UMass’ season ended before Selection Sunday.

And that’s because of the second reason — a 1-4 start to the season in which they lost to Boston College, Brown, Holy Cross and Dartmouth. It took considerable time for UMass to find its footing, which it eventually did. But perhaps the Minutewomen still peaked too early, bookending their season with disappointment.

Season highlight: It seems inconsequential in hindsight, but UMass secured the top seed for the A-10 tournament by beating Richmond on the regular season’s final day. McGowan’s goal off an assist from Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw gave the Minutewomen a two-goal cushion with 1:53 left to go.

Verdict: UMass’ highs were high, and its lows were low. Ultimately, it’s difficult to pinpoint which missteps (a 1-4 start or the lack of a conference title) sunk its season. Either way, the Minutewomen failed to make the NCAA tournament after earning a preseason Top 20 ranking. There’s room for growth in 2025.