It’s a Sweet 16 for the UMass women’s lacrosse team. Well, actually, not exactly.

The Minutewomen are heading to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the 16th time in program history after winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship last weekend. UMass (15-3) breezed past Saint Joseph’s, 15-4, for its first A-10 title in four years to clinch a spot in the NCAAs for the 12th time in the last 17 seasons.

Now that this Minutewomen squad has captured the elusive-of-late A-10 championship — first since 2021 – head coach Jana Drummond was happy to finally see her team take home some postseason hardware.

“This team has worked so hard, so it’s no surprise at all,” Drummond said. “With this group, they felt that loss the three years in a row, seniors specifically, so it was no surprise that all year, they’ve been prepping the team behind the scenes and on the field, doing everything they could to control all of the control-ables.”

Against the Hawks, seniors Tessa Shields and Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw helped power UMass to the A-10 trophy with six combined goals and nine points altogether.

“[Saint Joe’s] played a tight defense against Kassidy Morris as we expected they would, so that really opened up lanes for Tessa Shields, Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw and Ava Connaughton,” Drummond said. “We had everyone fulfilling their roles that we needed them to.”

Morris, the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, still found a way to pot two goals in the title game versus the Hawks.

UMass then became one of the 29 teams to hear its name called during last Sunday’s Selection Show after receiving an automatic bid in for winning the A-10. The Minutewomen slotted into No. 1 overall seed North Carolina’s portion of the bracket and drew Princeton for their first-round matchup.

UMass last played the Tigers (14-3) during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, a game Princeton won, 15-9. Drummond revealed that the team still regularly watches footage from that game to help new players learn their systems.

“It’s funny because we use that game to show some of our defensive concepts,” Drummond said. “It’s full circle [now] that we’re going to play Princeton after some of those films that we’ve used for learning/IQ film for the incoming freshmen. I would say it’s a lot of different personnel from when we first played them.”

One of those new players for the Tigers that UMass will have to contain is junior McKenzie Blake. Princeton’s top goalscorer (73) is far and away its most dangerous offensive player as Blake has 24 more goals than the next Tigers player. Blake also only has seven assists in 17 games so when the attacker gets the ball, it’s getting on net in a hurry.

After Blake, Jami McDonald (49 goals) and Haven Dora (51 assists) make up Princeton’s dynamic offensive trio. The Tigers’ three-headed monster have all surpassed 75 points on the season.

The Minutewomen should be able to match Princeton in terms of offensive firepower as they boast four players with at least 75 points, including Morris, who is one of only eight players nationwide to reach 100 points.

Because of both teams’ abilities in the attacking end, it may come down to which goalie has the sharper game. Tigers’ Amelia Hughes has been strong in the net this season, but during their most recent game in the Ivy League championship — a 17-6 loss to Yale – Hughes was pulled after allowing five goals on 10 shots faced.

UMass’ Catrina Tobin was just the opposite during the A-10 final, making six saves on 20 shots faced with four goals allowed following the final buzzer.

“Especially on Sunday, I would say that was one of her best performances,” Drummond said on Tobin. “Just really locked in. We tried to shut down their first option and then when that wasn’t there, Tobin was ready for the shots. She had some key saves and she read the shots really well so that put us in a good spot overall.”

A victory against Princeton would push the Minutewomen to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, something they haven’t done since 2017. Should UMass beat the Tigers, it would play the winner of No. 8 Johns Hopkins and Liberty on Sunday.

And if the Minutewomen needed any extra motivation, this year’s NCAA semifinals and finals will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Since Boston College is the only other Massachusetts school in the bracket, that would be quite the home-field advantage.

“That would be so awesome, just to get the opportunity to play at Gillette Stadium and be there for that,” Drummond said. “We got to get through Friday first. That’s where our heads are at.”

UMass will take on Princeton in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday at 5 p.m.