Deren’s decisive goal propels UMass women’s soccer to season-opening win

By Ryan Ames

Staff Writer

Freshman Amelia Deren deposited the deciding goal in the UMass women’s soccer team’s 1-0 season-opening win over St. John’s at Rudd Field on Thursday.

Deren booted a floater from the penalty arc that changed direction off a Red Storm defender and into the back of the net during the 68th minute, counting as No. 4’s first collegiate goal.

“We had lots of chances and I’m glad I was able to put it into the net, but I think our team, after that, our reaction to the goal, just to keep the press up and keep them in their half [of the field] really paid off,” Deren said.

Sarah Defreitas assisted on Deren’s marker as the graduate student made a quick centering pass to the net-rushing Deren, who then wasted no time putting the ball on net and eventually, into the mesh.

“She did a great job for us today,” Minutewomen head coach Jason Dowiak said about Deren. “It’s funny, when we recruited her, she came to a camp, we had never seen her before, she just showed up for an i.d. clinic and we were like, ‘wow’. She was the best player in the clinic and we were like, ‘we really like you’. She plays for one of the best clubs in the country, the Michigan Hawks and it was just a good fit for us. In this last year, she has literally played every position for her club team … and I think that experience for her this year, being moved around and having that versatility, that along with she’s just a very confident young woman, I think she was ready for the moment.”

Following a scoreless first half that saw UMass hold the advantage in shots (4-3) and corner kicks (6-0), the Minutewomen upped their intensity even more in the second frame as they were constantly attacking St. John’s end.

Deren’s strike proceeded several UMass scoring bids and its swarming offense wore down the Red Storm in hot and muggy conditions.

“We knew we don’t have this choice, we have to win,” Deren said on the team’s mindset heading into the second half. “We have to use what we use in practice and take advantage of every opportunity that we have. We were able to connect on those final passes, the first half I think we missed a couple, but I think we were able to connect on those [later], keep the press up and force them on one side of the field.”

UMass concluded the match ahead in shots (13-5) and corners (10-1).

Deren is one of 10 true freshman on this season’s Minutewomen squad and throw in a couple of transfer additions and Dowiak is tasked with navigating essentially a completely new team from 2024 that went 13-5-3.

UMass lost its top nine scorers from a season ago. Caroline Dickinson is its highest-scoring returner as the now-junior netted a pair of goals last year.

“It’s been four years since we’ve been like this because we just graduated 12 players and most of them started for us,” Dowiak said. “So we’ve been through it. What we learned from the group that graduated last year .. .what we learned from them and through them and with them I think has really prepared us to prepare another young group. This group has come in, they want to learn, they want to grow, they’re super close.”

Dowiak also praised freshmen Lexi Terry and Kaila Steen as two players who “owned their opportunities,” on Thursday.

The Minutewomen saw turnover in goal as well as redshirt freshman Leah Nisenfield won the job in between the pipes to start the 2025 season after Bella Mendoza’s graduation. Redshirt freshman Julia Rosenberg and freshmen Pepper Escher and Ella Casagrande-Stevens all battled for the top spot.

Thursday, Nisenfield nabbed two saves for UMass in the victory.

With about a month before UMass is set to take on its first Mid-American Conference opponent, it has time to work out the kinks before conference play begins. Although, Dowiak stated he’s excited to see where his group stacks up against a slew of unfamiliar opponents.

“We don’t really know what we don’t know,” Dowiak said. “So our focus is really just about us, our team, learning what our principals are, learning what our expectations are and hopefully being really good at executing our stuff. I’ve got an awesome staff and they do a really unbelievable job at preparing for every opponent.”

The Minutewomen were recently voted to finish fourth in the MAC as part of the MAC Women’s Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll. Western Michigan earned the most votes as the first-place team.

Next up for UMass (1-0) is a road contest at NJIT on Thursday, Aug. 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.