Fifth year senior Gina Carroll didn’t have to think too hard about whether or not she would return for her extra year of eligibility with the UMass women’s lacrosse team.

Besides the year she lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, Carroll also tore her ACL the next year, sidelining her for an additional year as well. When the final seconds ticked off the clock in last year’s Atlantic-10 championship game, which the Minutewomen lost to Richmond, Carroll knew she was coming back. 

“I love the sport enough where I wanted to come back and play. It's kind of my happy place and I'm honestly so glad I did because I get to end on a high with this team and this family that I have,” Carroll said. “For me, there wasn't a lot of doubt going into it. Like as soon as the end of the season happened last year, I was like, I definitely want to come back.” 

Top-seeded UMass has lost just one game this year and will enter the A10 tournament this weekend with a 15-1 record and a bye in the first round. They’ll face either No. 4 Davidson or No. 5 George Washington in the semifinals at noon on Friday in Richmond, Va. If seeds hold, the Minutewomen could get another shot at No. 2 Richmond in Sunday’s championship game.

In the beginning of the season, Carroll and her teammates were thinking about revenge. After winning their 11th consecutive A10 regular season title, the Minutewomen fell to their rival Spiders on home turf in last year’s title game.

But as the season wore on, those thoughts of revenge faded away, and the team focused more on playing for each other and having fun on the field. That recipe has led to a lot of success in a season that had a lot of uncertainty going into it with former assistant Jana Drummond taking over the team as head coach after the departure of long-time head coach Angela McMahon-Serpone. 

“I think coming into this season, there were a lot of question marks, especially with a whole basically new coaching staff other than Jana, and I think we've handled that well,” UMass’ Alex Finn said. “It's been great to be coached by (assistant coaches) Aurora [Cordingley] and Kendall [Goldblum] with all their knowledge, and I think Jana has done a great job stepping up. This year, it's very team-oriented group, it’s been great.” 

The Minutewomen are the heavy favorites going into the postseason. They’re currently ranked No. 13 nationally in the IWLCA/ILWomen Top-25 Poll, and have the third-best win percentage in the country. UMass is in the top five in the NCAA in ground balls per game, points per game and scoring margin. 

Those accolades can carry heavy pressure, especially when you consider that regular season winning hasn’t always meant postseason success for the Minutewomen in recent years. It’s a given that UMass has one of the best lacrosse teams in the nation – the final question for the team going into the playoffs is how well they’ll be able to perform when it matters most. 

“It's just another game, and if we can treat it like that, how we've been doing it all season, then we'll continue to have that same success,” Drummond said. “You sometimes get that pressure and we're trying to minimize that as much as possible. This is a phenomenal team. They have great mindset and they are very connected on and off the field. So I think if we just continue to stick to those attributes and our identity, I think we'll be just fine going into this.” 

Award season

As the Minutewomen prepare for their conference tournament, they were also able to celebrate a number of players who were selected for the A10 all-conference teams. 

Three different players earned A10 Player of the Year honors – Fiona McGowan was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Amy Moreau was named the Midfielder of the Year and Audra Tossone earned the Defender of the Year honor. 

McGowan, Moreau and Tossone were also named to the All-Conference First Team along with Jordan Dean and Hannah Heller. Finn and Carroll were named to the All-Conference Second Team, and Catrina Tobin and Kassidy Morris earned spots on the All-Rookie Team. 

Drummond was also named the Co-Coach of the Year in her first season as the head coach of the Minutewomen. Prior to assuming the top role, Drummond spent five seasons as an assistant coach at UMass. 

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.]]>