AMHERST, Mass. – There are two Mid-American Conference games remaining on the schedule for the Bellarmine field hockey team to earn their spot in the MAC Championship for the first time.
 
The first of those games will be a daunting task as the Knights visit the northeast to take on powerhouse Massachusetts Friday at 4 p.m. ET. Bellarmine (2-13) is currently on the outside looking in at the field of six for the MAC Championship, in a three-way tie for seventh in the league with Central Michigan and Longwood at 2-5 with six points. Both are chasing Kent State in sixth at 3-4 with 8 points.
 
Bellarmine then travels to Smithfield, R.I., to face Bryant in their final nonconference match of the 2025 campaign Sunday at 12 p.m. ET.
 
About Massachusetts
Massachusetts (13-2, 6-1 MAC) enters play this weekend ranked No. 16 in the NFHCA poll and No. 12 in the RPI. The 2025 national semifinalists in their first season in the MAC own wins over several teams in the top-30 of the RPI, including No. 14 Brown (3-2 SO), No. 15 Miami OH (3-1), No. 27 Boston College (2-1 SO), No. 26 James Madison (2-1 SO) and No. 23 Appalachian State (3-0) this past Sunday. Shockingly, however, the Minutewomen suffered a 1-0 loss to RPI No. 71 Ohio, one of two teams that Bellarmine has defeated on the season. Their other loss came at home to RPI No. 17 Connecticut when they allowed the Huskies to score a pair of goals in the final 11 minutes and fell 2-1.
 
Emily Barrett leads the charge for a UMass offense averaging 2.31 goals per 60 minutes. The freshman from England is tops on the team with eight goals and 18 points and owns two game-winners, though she has posted just a .190 shot percentage. Junior middie Neva Eisenga and freshman defender Lina Kroeger are behind her with four goals apiece. Freshman middie Fiene Jenniskens is the lead distributor with 10 assists.
 
Graduate defender Elena Clococeanu and senior keeper Myrte van Herwijnen lead a staunch Minutewomen defense allowing just 0.69 goals per 60 minutes, good for fourth in the country. Clococeanu is tied for the Division I lead with six defensive saves while van Herwijnen has played every second in the cage for UMass and ranks third nationally with her .839 save percentage.
 
This will be the first-ever meeting between the Knights and their new conference mates from Amherst and the Knights' first game in Massachusetts since a 3-2 triumph at Bentley on October 12, 2019.
 
About Bryant
Bryant (3-11, 0-3 America East) sits at No. 78 in the RPI out of 83 teams, two spots behind Bellarmine, and will face Vermont on Friday before hosting the Knights for their final home game. The Bulldogs' wins have come against RPI No. 77 Stonehill (4-0), RPI No. 81 Merrimack (1-0) and No. 83 New Haven (6-0).
 
Junior forward Callie Caito is tops on her team with six goals and 13 points. Sophomore Maud van Lierop has been the primary goalkeeper for Bryant, though she spent just 15 minutes in-cage during their 8-2 loss at Brown on Sunday. Her .679 save percentage is tied for 57th nationally.
 
As with UMass, Bellarmine will be facing Bryant for the first time.
 
Knights Knotes

• Anouk Richters tied Lunay Tuncay for the team lead in goals with two last Friday at Ball State.
• Six of Bellarmine's seven goals this season have come in penalty corner opportunities. Only Madison Patton's goal on September 28 in the 2-1 win at Longwood did not.
• Kailey Workman has an even 100 saves on the season. Her career high was 120 last year and the Bellarmine single-season record is 146 by Katie Lange in 2009. The highest save total during the Division I era was Breanna McWhorter's 138 in 2021.

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