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AMHERST - Between illness and injuries, University of Massachusetts field hockey coach Justine Sowry is not sure what her team's lineup will look like when the Minutewomen play on Garber Field at 12:30 p.m. Friday to open the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

But after nearly missing the chance to defend the title her team has won the past two seasons, Sowry is glad to be putting a team on the field in the tournament that her team is hosting.

Fourth-seeded UMass (12-8, 3-3 A-10) will face No. 1 Richmond (11-8, 5-1 A-10) in the rematch of an Oct. 23 game which the Spiders won 1-0, also at Garber Field. The teams have combined to win the last 13 A-10 titles.

"No matter what the situation, we'll put our best possible lineup and our best possible effort on the field," Sowry said.

She is glad the tournament is at Garber Field.

"It's fantastic playing it home. We've been excited all year," Sowry said. "There was a scare there for a bit about even making it. But now it's full steam ahead. We love playing at home. Hopefully, it will give us an advantage."

She hopes that will counteract her team's poor health.

"We still have injuries and now we have a number of players down with the flu," Sowry said. "We're just trying to keep it together and hopefully we have a starting lineup on Friday."

Makaela Potts leads the Minutewomen with 10 goals and 11 assists, and Katie Kelly had added 11 goals and six assists.

Sophomore goalie Alesha Widdall enters the tournament with a 1.46 goals against average.

The second semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday is between No. 2 Saint Joseph's (7-10, 4-2) and No. 3 Temple (8-11, 4-2),

The winners will play for the conference championship at 3 p.m. Saturday at Garber Field.

Ticket prices for the event are $6 for adults, $4 for children and senior citizens, and $3 for students at an A-10 school. Two-day passes are also available for $10. Tickets can be purchased at the UMass Box Office or by calling 866-UMASS-TIX.

WOMEN'S SOCCER - The UMass women's soccer team would not be playing in the postseason today if not for a strong showing last weekend. The Minutewomen are the No. 6 seed in the six-team A-10 championship at Transamerica Field in Charlotte, N.C.

UMass took 1-0 wins from both Richmond and George Washington at Rudd Field last weekend. A loss in either game would have left the Minutewomen (6-10-2, 5-6-0 A-10) out of the tournament.

Instead, they will play at 5:30 p.m. today against No. 3 Fordham (8-11-1, 7-4). UMass lost to the Rams 3-2 in overtime when they played Oct. 11 in Amherst.

This is the first A-10 tournament berth for UMass since 2004.

The Minutewomen have been led offensively by Therese Smith (five goals, three assists) and Sydney Stoll (five goals, one assist), but UMass is ranked No. 13 in the conference in scoring just 0.83 goals per game.

Senior Lauren Lucky and freshman Emily Cota have split goalkeeping duties this season.

If UMass wins, it would advance to face top seed Dayton (14-0-5, 10-0-1) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.