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Thursday, March 14, 2019
Defense Nails Down 14-4 Men’s Lacrosse Win Over UMass Lowell
Recap, photo courtesy of UMass
Massachusetts allows season-low in goals, secures fourth victory of season
AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts men's
lacrosse defense stymied UMass Lowell throughout play at Garber Field on
Tuesday en route to a 14-4 victory over the visiting-River Hawks. The
Minutemen caused 10 turnovers and eight failed clears by UMass Lowell,
while senior faceoff specialist Tom Meyers won possession over and over for the Minutemen to the tune of a 15-for-19 outing (.789) with seven groundballs on the day.
Goalie Sean Sconone
was steadfast in net as the senior turned aside nine shots and only
allowed a pair of goals in nearly 54 minutes of action before sophomore Hampton Brannon rotated into the lineup in cage.
Senior Isaac Paparo
led the defensive effort in front of Sconone with a pair of caused
turnovers and seven groundballs as the group limited UMass Lowell to
just eight shots in the first half and 23 total on the day.
Midfielders Charlie O'Brien (3), Billy Philpott (2) and Jeff Trainor
(1) added a combined six caused turnovers as Massachusetts caused havoc
in the middle of the field. The trio added nine groundballs, led by six
from Trainor.
Freshman attack Gabriel Procyk and position-mate Devin Spencer
totaled hat tricks, while Procyk chipped in one assist for a
game-high-tying four points. Trainor also had four points on a goal and
three assists.
Massachusetts received multi-point outing from five more Minutemen as
the offense shared the ball consistently throughout the game. Sophomore
midfielder Kevin Tobin had three points on a pair of scores and one assist. Freshman midfielder Scott Del Zotto and Paparo also posted two goals apiece while junior attack Nick Roy dished out two assists.
Philpott, a redshirt junior two-way player, added an assist, as did rookie midfielder Kevin Cutinella.
The Maroon and White controlled play early en route to a 4-0 lead after
one quarter. Four different goal scorers created the lead as Trainor, Devin Spencer, Del Zotto and Procyk fired in tallies during the first, in which the defense held the River Hawks to just two shots.
Cory Highlfield, UMass Lowell's leading scorer with three points on two
goals and an assist, snapped the River Hawks' scoreless streak with 13
minutes, 14 seconds to go in the second. However, Massachusetts
responded with a five-goal run stretching into the third quarter as the
Flagship Campus pushed ahead, 9-1.
Paparo highlighted the run with a pair of goals while Del Zotto, Devin Spencer and Tobin also rippled the netting during the span.
Highfield again ended the UMass scoring streak when he scored man-up
with 4:24 to go in the third, but the Massachusetts offense continued to
thrive against the River Hawks' defense with another five-goal run that
expanded the lead to 14-2 entering the final stages of play.
Trainor slotted back-to-back passes to Devin Spencer and Procyk as Spencer earned his second consecutive hat trick. After a man-up goal by Ben Spencer
with 10:01 to go extended the advantage to double-digits, Procyk
totaled his fifth hat trick in seven career games when Cutinella found
Procyk open for his third strike of the afternoon. Ben Spencer capped the run with his second of the day, also on the man-up, when Procyk found Spencer in space for a step-down blast.
Grant Lardieri took the loss in net for the River Hawks with 14 goals
allowed versus 12 saves during 52:22 in cage. Matt Murakami stepped
between the pipes for the final 7:38 of game action, but did not face an
on-target shot.
Massachusetts led UMass Lowell in shots, 44-23, shots on goal, 26-13 and
groundballs, 45-26. The Maroon and White also won 17 of the game's 22
faceoffs (.773) and finished 13-of-13 on clears. Sophomore Tyler Green
added two faceoff victories in three changes for the home side in
addition to Meyers' efforts. UMass Lowell ended the day 16-for-24
clearing the ball and committed 21 turnovers to 19 by the Minutemen.
The Maroon and White continues their four-game homestand at Garber Field
on Sun., March 17 against first-year NCAA Division I program Utah (4-3
overall). First faceoff is set for Noon.
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