For a team that averages over nine goals per game, it’s hard to say that the offense is struggling.
But for the No. 15 Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team, that’s just what happened against No. 1 Syracuse last weekend in its 10-3 loss.
‘This game is about opportunities. We had opportunities, we didn’t finish them. And when you play a team like
With point producers like Jim Connolly (32 goals, five assists) and Tim Balise (25 goals, five assists), the Minutemen shouldn’t have a problem scoring goals, but against top goalkeepers it’s important to take high-quality shots and move the ball around on offense.
‘Not how we wanted to come out, obviously. The defense played well but offensively we didn’t execute what we wanted to do,’ Rory Pedrick said after Saturday’s game. ‘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.’
UMass (8-5, 5-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) is second in the ECAC with goals per game (9.62), just behind Loyola (10.46). The Minutemen’s lack of offensive movement is shown with their average number of assists per game (4.08), which is last in the ECAC.
‘I think most of all to work for better quality shots on offense; don’t try to force it as much. I think that will really be the key [on Saturday],’ Pedrick said on what UMass must improve on in its season-finale against
Playoff game
Loyola kept its playoff chances alive with a 16-7 win over
‘Rutgers is like a playoff game now and we should go in with a little edge and be a little pissed off about [Saturday’s game against
Record-setting crowd
A record-setting 13,722 fans witnessed the UMass-Syracuse game on Saturday at McGuirk Stadium. This broke the record previously set on May 6, 1989 when 12,143 people attended the Syracuse-UMass matchup.
‘That was unbelievable, it was great to see everybody come out and support us. It feels really good to have a lot of fans [at the game],’ Tim Balise said.
Future star
Cody Jamieson, a transfer to
‘We were so focused on the game, we weren’t really thinking about substituting,’
Jamieson is expected to be one of the elite players in the nation next season. Last season he played with the Six Nations Arrows, a Junior ‘A’ League team. He led the league in points (101) with 59 goals in 21 games.
Melissa Turtinen can be reached at [email protected].