BOSTON - Junior Melynda Zwick (Holland, Pa.) scored four goals, sophomore Holly Drown (Nashua, N.H.) scored three and added an assist, and junior Kathleen Typadis (Medfield, Mass.) scored three as the UMass women's lacrosse team upset No. 16 Boston University at Nickerson Field on Saturday afternoon. The win snapped an amazing 22-game home win streak for the Terriers and was UMass' first win against BU since the 1998 season. For Alexis Venechanos the win today was her first as a head coach.

"It was a great win because we did it as a team. It wasn't just one player. That's how I want my team to be; to play together as a whole and that's what we did today," said Venechanos. "To do it against a tremendously talented and respected team like Boston University, whom we haven't had a lot of success lately, was huge."

The Minutewomen scored six unanswered goals in the second half to take an 11-7 lead before the Terriers rallied back late. Senior goalkeeper Lauren McCarthy (Derry, N.H.) was strong once again between the pipes holding the Terriers at bay during their late rally. McCarthy made a save with just over a minute remaining in the game that allowed UMass to gain possession and run out the clock after BU had cut the lead to two.

"Lauren made some huge, timely saves today," said Venechanos. "She kept us in the game and really commanded the defense. She was a little under the weather, but played a really great game today in spite of that."

McCarthy earned her first career win against the Terriers despite battling the flu.

"The defense played as a unit in the second half and was able to keep BU from getting good, open shots. Everybody fought hard today for groundballs and we were able to get our transition going to help the offense," said McCarthy. "It's an amazing feeling to get the win as a team. Out of the five years I've been here this was the best we played as a group and it is rewarding to be able to get the win."

BU controlled much of the first half of play jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead and then taking a 7-5 edge into intermission.

"We knew they would come out hard in the second half. We knew they were going to do a lot of one on one and post some players in front of the goal, so we had the defense key for that. The attack was patient on the other end and looked for high quality shots," said Venechanos.

Three players scored hat tricks today led by the career-high four goals from Zwick. Holly Drown also recorded a career-high four points with three goals and an assist. The three goals for Typadis extended her scoring streak to 26 consecutive games and was her 14th hat trick. She needs just four more goals to crack the all-time career scoring list.

"We've been talking about balance on offense a lot and we had three people step up," said Venechanos. "The entire attack stepped up and we were able to get them good shots. We did a lot better today on draw controls as well and really fought for possession."

"It was very exciting because the entire team played well, we were completely in sync together," said Zwick. "It was great to see all the work we've put be rewarded with the team effort. Offensively, I think we played very well, was balanced, and confident in each other."

The Terriers were one of four preseason nationally ranked teams on the UMass schedule and one of five teams to have played in the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

"BU has been to the tournament the last two years and so to get a quality win like that is great. They stayed in the game and made a run at the end after we went up by four and you have to respect that in a team," said Venechanos. "I think we can use this win as a springboard and hopefully carry that momentum into our next couple of games."

UMass heads to Vermont this Wednesday, Feb. 28 with the first draw slated for 3:00 p.m.

2007-02-24