It was a 13–9 historic victory, Thursday, April 18. UMass Boston’s Women’s Lacrosse team earned their first-ever win against New England College, per Beacons Athletics. (1)
Mia Boyd led the way, as she has all year, with three goals on as many shots on net. Boyd is now up to 23 goals on the late season, good for a total of 25 points, according to Beacons Athletics. (2) It was also an impressive performance from second-year Teresa Sheedy; she tied a career and season high of four points in a game off two goals and two assists.
Beacons goalkeeper Laura Falandys tied her season, and collegiate, best saving percentage of .500. She stopped nine shots while letting in nine, which also ties her second best mark in goals allowed. (1)
Prior to their date with the Pilgrims, UMass Boston had been outscored 52–12 over their last three games. (1) Categorizing this as a bounce-back win for the Beacons would be an incredulous understatement. Just one game follows this win; the student athletes are preparing for finals, summer time is on the horizon and they’ve been beat up relentlessly. The Beacons refused to lay down and take a full season of losses, after so, so much adversity.
A win like this helps set the standard of the program. Head Coach Hannah Khin stated in her introductory press conference that, “In five years, I think we should be competing for Little East Conference championships.” Even if this is a small step, it’s inspiration, and it’s something to build off.
As the season comes to a close, Khin and her team will have a full year under their belts. One win will not be acceptable moving forward. But they are moving forward, and at the end of the day, it’s all you can ask for from an inaugural season. And after all, Khin never made some Jaylen Brown-like declaration—“five or six” when asked how many rings he’ll have by age 28, but who’s counting?—her program has four more years to work towards their goal.
No matter what lens you look through, this win is an applause-worthy accomplishment. Multiple multi-sport athletes thrown into the fire, a young inexperienced team, are now “a part of something new,” said Khin back at her introductory presser. Every UMass Boston Women’s Lacrosse team will forever follow this one.
After their win against New England College, UMass Boston is now 1–11 this year. They’ve played in three games listed at “home,” but only one game has been in Boston all year—an away matchup at Emerson. (1) Hopefully the team will get some home-field advantage next year, it’d especially lessen the travel load. They will conclude their season Saturday, April 27 against Bridgewater State. (1) While the lows have been low, it’s only up from here for the Beacons.
https://beaconsathletics.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/schedule
https://beaconsathletics.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/stats
