The No. 3 Massachusetts field hockey team made out with a 3-2 win over its strong conference foe, No. 14 Miami (OH). Despite heading into the fourth quarter with a 3-0 lead, the Minutewomen (11-0, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) raced against the clock at the end of the game to deter an equalizing Redhawks (6-4, 3-1 MAC) goal.

“Our basic skills were not on today, and we had way too many turnovers,” head coach Barb Weinberg said. “To be quite honest, we’re lucky to run away with one here … I said to the team: ‘It’s a reality check and we got the win, and that doesn’t often happen.’ So we’ll learn from this one.”

UMass’ defense held down the victory, successfully denying 15 of the 17 total penalty corners that Miami took. The onslaught of Redhawk corner attempts was more than the Minutewomen have allowed any of their opponents to have all season, with the next highest total being the 10 penalty corners Harvard took against UMass.

“I think our [defensive penalty corner] unit all season long has been solid,” Weinberg said. “They’re brave. They’re getting in front of shots. They do their homework on the scout … To defend [17 penalty corners], you can only handle that sustained pressure for a certain amount of time. They’re eventually going to score a goal … But, I thought we defended them very well today.”

Rozárie Mrázová held strong in net as she faced the most action she’s had all year. On Friday, she made 13 saves on shots from Miami. She totaled 17 saves against all other opponents in the past 10 games combined.

“We knew [Mrázová] was really going to be challenged, so we’ve been working on some really specific things with her in training,” Weinberg said. “Some of the saves she made today, she was training … this week … I was super proud of her. I think she had probably the game of her career today.”

Lina Kroeger scored the game-winning goal near the end of the third quarter. The sophomore whipped a penalty stroke shot low and to the Redhawk goalkeeper’s right side, finding a line close enough to the post that she couldn’t get to it in time.

In the second period, Amber Fairon opened the scoring for the Minutewomen.

Jenna Herbster cleanly entered the first penalty corner UMass had in the game. Cara Falconer crouched to settle the ball, and Fairon swung her stick back, building enough momentum to send it straight home, giving the Minutewomen a 1-0 lead.

Just 23 seconds later, UMass had another penalty corner, and they ran the exact same play. This time, as Fairon’s shot raced toward the goal, a Miami defender sat in its path, waiting to turn it away. Before the ball reached her, Niamh McKenzie dove to disrupt its route, diving to get the tip of her stick on the ball. She sent it sailing up and over the Redhawk, straight into the net.

The tallies were both Fairon and McKenzie’s 10th of the season.

“On a positive note, our conversion rate was really good today,” Weinberg said. “Two penalty corners and two goals – [Fairon] with the direct hit and then [Fairon] to [McKenzie] for the deflection – it was perfectly executed.”

Continuing an undefeated season campaign, the Minutewomen return to play on Sunday, Oct. 4 when they head to Storrs, Conn. to take on UConn. The game is set to begin at 1 p.m. and will be available to stream on UCONN+.

“We have another tough opponent on Sunday, so we’re going to be looking forward to UConn and what immediately needs to be improved,” Weinberg said.

Caroline Burge can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Caroline_Burge