Following a tumultuous final day of the regular season, the RMU women’s lacrosse team finds itself facing a tall task when they host top-seeded UMass in the first round of the MAC playoffs.
The Colonials clinched the number four seed in the tournament after defeating Detroit Mercy 15-5 (along with a handful of other scores falling in their favor), bringing their record to 3-4 after regular season conference play.
Senior Emma Hawks detailed the group’s excitement after they found themselves stealing the final spot in the tournament: “It gave us another opportunity to show who we are as a team. It allows us to play together again, and we are ready.”
UMass, on the other hand, coasted through their inaugural season in the MAC with a perfect 7-0 conference record. The Minutewomen enter the tournament boasting the second most efficient offense in the country, averaging 17.9 goals per game. Redshirt senior Kassidy Morris’s 3.94 goals per game is at the heartbeat of this force, a stat that currently sits fifth in the nation.
If an upset is in the cards at Joe Walton Stadium for this first-round clash, there is no doubt that RMU’s Mia Berthoff would be at the helm. The All-MAC First Teamer leads the team in goals and points. Despite her consistent offensive output, Berthoff was kept off the scoresheet in the Colonial’s 18-6 drubbing at the hands of UMass earlier this year.
The two sides will draw on Thursday morning at 11 a.m. in the first of two playoff games that day. Third-seeded Eastern Michigan will battle second-seeded Akron for the other spot in the MAC championship later that day, with all games broadcast from Joe Walton Stadium on ESPN+.
