AMHERST, Mass. – Freshman Taylor Leonhardt tallied her first collegiate goal on Friday afternoon, but a late goal sealed a 3-1 victory for #20 Massachusetts over the Saint Joseph's field hockey team in the Atlantic 10 opener for both sides at the Gladchuck Sports Complex.

Massachusetts (5-2 overall, 1-0 Atlantic 10) opened the scoring just shy of the 15-minute mark as Sarah Hawkshaw put her fifth of the season just under the crossbar for a 1-0 UMass lead.  The Minutewomen doubled the advantage through Melanie Kreusch on a penalty corner with 3:30 to go in the first half to take a 2-0 edge into halftime.

Saint Joseph's (2-4 overall, 0-1 Atlantic 10) got back in the game 10 minutes into the second half as Leonhardt tucked a loose ball past goalkeeper Sam Carlino to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Hawks had an opportunity to draw level as the Minutewomen were down a player after a yellow card, but unfortunately for the Crimson and Gray, Izzie Delario scored for UMass with 3:12 to go to see out the match.

Junior Amelia Deibler made six saves on the day for SJU, while Carlino made a pair for UMass.

"I'm glad we started off conference play with last year's regular season champion and a ranked opponent in UMass," said head coach Lynn Farquhar.  "Today, UMass did a great job capitalizing on their opportunities and we were reminded of what we need to bring to every conference match."

The Hawks will look to bounce back right away, heading to Providence, Rhode Island, for a tilt with Brown on Saturday afternoon.  Game time is set for 2:30 p.m.