Burnett, Anderson Spark Women's Lax 22-10 Win Over La Salle

Duo combines for nine goals; Holly Turner ties program's career assist record.

MHERST, Mass. - Paced by a combined nine goals from Kiley Anderson and Hannah Burnett, the UMass women's lacrosse team cruised past La Salle 22-10 on Sunday afternoon at Garber Field. Along with Anderson and Burnett's goal performances, Holly Turner tied the program's all-time career assist record (119, Katie Ferris) with five on the day.

The win improves the Minutewomen to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in league play. That extends UMass' NCAA record league win streak to 58 consecutive games and improves the current home win streak to 12 games.

Anderson finished the day with a game-high and career-best tying five goals followed by four from Burnett. Anderson also had an assist to tie Turner, who had a goal and five assists, for a game-best six points on the afternoon. Turner added a team-high and career-high three caused turnovers and eight groundballs as part of an aggressive transition defense by UMass that held La Salle (4-8, 0-4 A-10) to just 7-of-21 on clearing opportunities.

Cassidy Doster notched a pair of goals and three assists, while Bella O'Connor and Abby Walker each

UMass Women's Lax Runs Past St. Bonaventure 18-4

Recap, photo courtesy of UMass

Eleven different Minutewomen score goals as UMass stays perfect in A-10 play.

AMHERST, Mass. - Eleven different players scored goals as the UMass women's lacrosse team defeated St. Bonaventure 18-4 on Friday afternoon at Garber Field. Hannah Burnett and Kiley Anderson led the Minutewomen (8-3, 3-0 A-10) with three goals each which gave the Maroon and White its 57th consecutive Atlantic 10 win extending its NCAA record.

Abby Walker, Cassidy Doster (assist), and Brooke McDaid each scored a pair of goals for UMass. Kaitlyn Cerasi tied Burnett for a game-high four points with a goal and three assists. Holly Turner, Hannah Palau, Ashley Faulhaber, Drew Reno, and Haley Connaughton all tallied goals as well.

Kiley Anderson led UMass with nine draw controls which was a big factor early in the game. The Minutewomen won 18-of-24 draws overall to keep possession for much of the afternoon.

Lauren Hiller made three saves in the first half to earn her eighth win of the season. Sam Walters earned the second half nod making a pair of saves.

St. Bonaventure (0-11, 0-3) had four different players score goals, while keeper Morgan Conroy made 14 saves in the loss.

UMass jumped out to a 8-0 lead over the first 20 minutes of play and led 11-2 at halftime. Anderson scored just 35 seconds into the second half, but the Bonnies notched back-to-back goals to cut UMass' lead to 12-4 with 25:26 remaining.

That proved the last scoring chance for St. Bonaventure with the Minutewomen scoring the final six goals of the game.

Overall, UMass held advantages in both shots (39-to-12) and groundballs (27-to-12). The game featured slippery conditions to start thanks to a wintry mix that came through the area. That translated into 25 turnovers for the Bonnies and 17 for the Minutewomen. St. Bona struggled particularly in transition converting just 9-of-21 clear attempts while UMass was 14-of-18.

The Minutewomen will return to action on Sunday, April against La Salle at Garber Field. The opening draw is set for 1 PM and the game will be streamed live on the Atlantic 10 Digital Network.

UMass Men’s Lacrosse Battles Back For 9-8 Win At Delaware

Recap, photo courtesy of UMass

Minutemen trailed by four in third quarter, scored seven of game’s final nine goals for comeback win

NEWARK, Del. – Massachusetts men's lacrosse won for the sixth consecutive time with a fourth quarter comeback effort led by senior faceoff specialist Noah Rak (Norwich, Conn.) and sophomore midfielder Jeff Trainor (Billerica, Mass.) as the Minutemen downed Delaware, 9-8, on the road at Delaware Stadium on Friday evening. Rak went 14-of-18 on faceoffs with 11 groundballs and two goals on as many shots. Trainor scored his second collegiate hat trick with three goals, including two scored in the second half.
 
Buddy Carr (Exeter, N.H.) added three points on a goal and two assists while Chris Connolly (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored once and dished an assist. Shane Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) and Devin Spencer (Danville, Calif.) added a goal apiece while Isaac Paparo (Westport, Conn.) helped out on a tally.
 
Jackson Suboch (Toronto, Ontario) forced two Delaware turnovers and scooped up a pair of groundballs while Paparo had a caused turnover and three groundballs. Reserve goalkeeper Sean Sconone (East Islip, N.Y.), who rotated into the lineup in the 22nd minute of the game, closed out the game with 12 saves against only four goals allowed.
 
Massachusetts trailed by four after Will Hirschmann scored on a feed from Charlie Kitchen with seven minutes, 10 seconds to go in the third quarter.
 
However, Carr ignited the offense with his 25th goal of the year, before Trainor potted his second of the game as Massachusetts cut the deficit to a pair with 3:37 to go.
 
Both teams managed to score in the final 10 seconds of the franticly-paced frame as Delaware held a 7-5 advantage headed to the final 15 minutes of action.
 
Paparo forced Delaware into a turnover, scooped up the loose ball, raced up-field and fed the play to Spencer at the crease for Spencer's 13th tally of the year with seven seconds to go in the frame. The Blue Hens responded after the officials whistled UMass for a faceoff violation following the goal and Mark Bieda connected with less than one second to go.
 
Massachusetts pulled momentum back into its favor during the fourth quarter as the defense held Delaware scoreless into the final minute, the offense found rhythm and Rak continuously set the Minutemen up with possessions as he went 6-of-6 at the faceoff dot. Those combined efforts led the Minutemen to a four-goal run during the fourth, with one tally each by Connolly, Rak, Rinkus and Trainor.
 
Rak immediately cut the deficit to 7-6 when he won the first faceoff of the fourth to himself, scooped the groundball and fired in his second goal of the game only six seconds in. Rinkus followed Rak's lead 13 seconds later as Massachusetts pulled even with all but 19 seconds still to play in the fourth.
 
Connolly put Massachusetts in front for the first time all evening with his lone strike of the game, facilitated by Carr, at the 12:17 mark. Following Connolly's conversion, play settled into a scoreless, back-and-forth struggle into the final 90 seconds.
 
Trainor padded the lead to a pair with his hat trick-securing third tally of the night. On an official's restart following a timeout, Trainor split a Delaware double-team and raced unchecked to the cage where he caught Blue Hens goalie Matt DeLuca out of position.
 
Massachusetts (7-4 overall, 2-0 CAA) returns home to Garber Field for its next game, a Sat., April 14 contest with Towson (4-6, 1-1) at 1 p.m.

Late UMass Comeback Falls Short Against St. Bonaventure, 7-5

Recap, photo courtesy of UMass

Fry belts first career home run in rubber game loss

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts baseball mounted an eighth inning comeback, but the effort fell short as the Minutemen fell to St. Bonaventure, 7-5, on Sunday in the series rubber game at Earl Lorden Field. The Minutemen drop to 9-8 with the loss (2-4 Atlantic 10) and the Bonnies improve to 6-14 on the season (2-4 Atlantic 10).
 
Marcus Fry homered for the first time as a Minuteman, while elsewhere in the lineup Ryan Lever went 2-for-2 with three walks and two runs scored. Nolan Kessinger had a 2-for-4 day at the plate with two RBIs and Eddy Hart scored twice. Lever's day extended the junior's reached base streak to 16 games, while Fry also reached for the 10th consecutive contest.
 
Massachusetts was first to the scoreboard with a two-run third inning. Hart began the sequence with a one out single up the middle, moving to second on a walk to Lever before coming around on a Kessinger base knock. Cooper Mrowka then followed up by poking a single through the left side that plated Lever. The Minutemen had chances to tack on insurance but would leave the bases loaded.
 
In the following frame the teams traded runs. SBU's Ryan MacCarrick scored on Jeff Palczewski's RBI single before the Minutemen countered in the bottom half with Fry's leadoff dinger into the trees beyond right center field.
 
The Bonnies would turn the tables in the top of the sixth with a six-spot. Casey Vincent's two-run double off the right field wall evened the score at three-apiece and on the next pitch, Palczewski placed a single in left field that plated Vincent. Ben MacDonald later smacked a two-run single before Sam Fuller's sacrifice fly concluded the frame.
 
UMass came back within two in the last of the eighth. After two strikeouts to begin the inning, Hart worked a four-pitch walk before Lever poked a 2-2 offering through the right side. With Hart now at second base, Kessinger lined the first pitch he saw up the middle to bring in Hart and put Lever on third base. Lever proceeded to score on a wild pitch before the threat ended with Kessinger left in scoring position.
 
After Casey Aubin struck out the side in the top of the ninth, UMass' Logan Greene reached by way of a single to bring the tying run to the plate, but would advance no further as James Wetter induced a fly ball and a strikeout to take the game and series.
 
SBU's Roman Wild (1-2) earned the win out of the bullpen, lasting 3.1 shutout innings during which he allowed a single hit, walked one and struck out six batters. For the Minutemen, Kevin Hassett (0-3) received the loss despite a strong start to his outing. He was responsible for six runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks, fanning five over his 5.1 innings.
 
Each Bonnies hitter in the No. 2 through No. 9 spots in the batting order recorded at least one hit. Three different players in Vincent, Palczewski and MacDonald had two RBIs apiece.
 
Massachusetts hosts Northeastern on Tues., April 3 at 3 p.m. from Earl Lorden Field in the Baseball Beanpot Semifinals.