Travis Tripucka is relatively new to the Massachusetts-Syracuse men’s lacrosse rivalry. But one has to wonder if the sophomore defender knew exactly what he was doing when he completely flattened a
The victim of the vicious hit? None other than Tim Desko, the freshman son of
The knockdown hit had to have been an extra-special one for Tripucka and the Minutemen, but that was about all UMass could celebrate after suffering a 10-3 loss to second-ranked and defending national champion
The No. 16 Minutemen led 2-1 early, but a stifling
‘This game is about opportunities. We had opportunities, we didn’t finish them. And when you play a team like
UMass (8-5, 5-1 ECAC) would tie Loyola atop the standings with a win over the Scarlet Knights, but would claim the ECAC crown by virtue of its 8-6 win over the Greyhounds on March 21.
The deep and talented
‘Not how we wanted to come out, obviously,’ said senior midfielder Rory Pedrick of the slow start. ‘The defense played well but offensively we didn’t execute what we wanted to do. I think we all kind of forced it at times and they caused turnovers and they went down on offense and kind of took over the game.’
Although the Minutemen were displeased with their shot selection,
‘Our defense was stymieing them,’ said Galloway, who made 14 saves. ‘They have a really talented attack ‘- they have one of the best duos on attack in the country and they scored two goals. We’re excited to have a defensive performance like that.’
UMass’ Jim Connolly and Tim Balise entered the game with a combined 55 goals. But Connolly’s two tallies were the only points that either scored. Ryan Marcus scored UMass’ other goal.
Stephen Keogh led the
As the lead in the second half grew for
‘I was surprised, I probably haven’t seen a
Barring a potential meeting in the NCAA Tournament, Saturday’s game was the last chance these teams will have against each other, at least for the foreseeable future.
‘I don’t know if this game has been the healthiest game for both teams,’
Cannella told the paper that he was disappointed.
‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘I was looking at it today, and we’ve played
For now,
At least one UMass player would love to see them again sooner rather than later.
‘You never know, we could see these guys again [in the NCAAs] ‘- which would be a blast,’ Schneider said. ‘
Game notes
Prior to Saturday, UMass hadn’t played a game at McGuirk Stadium since a 1997 loss to
Eli Rosenswaike can be reached at [email protected].