Meet the Smashing Peaches, a trio of University of Massachusetts women’s lacrosse players with serious chops.
By Clare Lochary L
auren Terracciano and Sarah Mullen drove around Amherst late one night, listening to the radio and talking about nothing
in particular, when Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” came on the air. They both knew all the words to the six-minute classic rock opus, so they cranked up the volume and re-enacted the famous “Wayne’s World” scene, complete with head banging. “That’s an unbelievable song. That’s our next jam,” Terracciano told Mullen. “We’re doing it.”
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is now the signature number of the Smashing Peaches, a band consisting of Terracciano and Mullen on vocals and their University of Massachusetts women’s lacrosse teammate, Katie Florence, on guitar and bongo drums. For the past two years, they have jammed together about once a week. It’s tough to catch a Smashing Peaches show, as the band only performs for their teammates, usually on road trips or at team parties.
But their musical connection has paid dividends on the field. The Minutemen are favored to win their fourth consecutive Atlantic 10 championship and could make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. The Smashing Peaches don’t play the introspective Joni-Mitchell-type music
38 LACROSSE MAGAZINE March 2012 >>
you might expect from an acoustic trio of college girls. They love classic rock, like AC/DC and Led Zepplin. They love Beyonce. They love any music that’s loud and bright, songs that can play to the cheap seats — even if the cheap seats are just the last row of the team bus. “We like to do things big. If we’re going
to perform in front of our coaches, and make total fools of ourselves, we’re going to do it big,” said Terracciano, a junior attacker. “We’ll lose ourselves and start belting it out.”
Florence, a senior goalie, has started
every game of her career and was the 2011 A10 Defensive Player of the Year. A captain since her sophomore season, Florence is a quiet, natural leader who has fostered a sisterly vibe on the team by making time to have dinner with
They love any music that’s loud and bright, songs that can play to the cheap seats — even if the cheap seats are just the last row of the team bus.
freshmen. The Smashing Peaches are an extension of that hospitality.
“People want to be around them, and
be part of the goofiness and the silliness,” said second-year head coach Angela McMahon.
On the field, Massachusetts is a gritty team that went 17-3 in 2011, thanks to a solid defense (8.70 goals allowed per game) anchored by Florence. UMass graduated Jackie Lyons, the program’s all-time leading scorer, and it will be a challenge to replace her on attack. Katie Ferris, who set a single-season school record with 56 goals as the A10 Rookie of the Year, will need help to make up Lyons’ 41 goals. Terracciano wants to be part of that. At just 5-foot-2, she has a huge, rich voice that belies her small stature. She wants to develop a similarly big presence on the lacrosse field.
“I’m a pretty tenacious player, but I’d like to take that to the next level and have that confidence to take my girl to goal,” Terracciano said. “Because sometimes I get a little hesitant. I want to have the killer instinct.”
McMahon said Terracciano has evolved as a player during her years in Amherst, and the time she has spent with the Smashing Peaches has been a key part of that. “She’s someone who’s continued to develop her confidence, and I see how the performance side of things goes into her playing. She’s willing to sing in public, which she didn’t like to do before,” McMahon said. “On the field, you see that confidence translate. She’s ready to step up and take a leadership role.”
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©RICHARD ORR; ©JOHN RISLEY (KF)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116