FIELD HOCKEY NOTEBOOK
The Vermont field hockey team finally laces up for its first game since last November when it travels to UMass to take on the Minutewomen on Saunday. Game time from Amherst is set for 2 p.m.
 
MEDIA COVERAGE
Sunday's game can be seen on live ESPN+ and the ESPN app with a paid subscription.
 
RELATED LINKS
Live Video (ESPN+): Domestic -- International | Live Stats
 
THE OUTLOOK
The Catamounts finished out the 2019 season with a 6-11 record but eight of those losses were decided by one goal. Vermont returns almost 90-percent of its goal scoring output from 2019 including leading goal scorers Kate Hall and Bailey Matthews. The two combined for 14 goals in 2019 and Hall's seven tallies are the most for a first-year since Lauren Tucker scored seven in 2015.
 
Goalkeeper Sierra Espeland ranked third in America East with five saves per game and she posted a pair of shutouts last season.
 
IT'S BEEN A WHILE
Vermont's last game was a 3-2 loss to Dartmouth on Nov. 3 of 2019. When action kicks off on Sunday it will put an end to a 490-day gap between official contests.
 
TEAM CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Seniors Claudia Cotter and Pleun Haantjes will once again wear captain bands and they will be joined by junior Lydia Maitland, head coach Kate Pfeifer announced earlier this spring.
 
SCOUTING UMASS
UMass enters Sunday's with two games already under its belt and fresh off a 2-1 victory over Northeastern. The Minutewomen bring back six of their top seven scorers from 2019 including Jess Beech who had 14 points as a rookie last season. Massachusetts was picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 preseason poll and received one first-place vote.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
What was once a yearly regional rivalry game in the late 2000s, the series has become sporadic over the last decade. UMass holds a 14-2 all-time lead in the series including a 3-1 victory in the most recent meeting in 2018. Pleun Haantjes scored the Catamounts' lone goal. Vermont's last win over the Minutewomen came back in 2007 – a 3-1 decision in Burlington.