It certainly wasn’t the conventional win for the Massachusetts lacrosse team, but it was a win nonetheless.
The Minutemen will move on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, this time by way of a 9-6 victory over the Hofstra Pride yesterday at Garber Field. Senior Kevin Leveille led the way for the offense with a hat trick, while the stifling Maroon and White defense allowed Hofstra just 15 shots on net. Freshman Bill Schell turned aside nine of those, en route to his 13th victory of the season.
“It was a good victory over a very good Hofstra team, a very young Hofstra team,” UMass coach Greg Cannella said. “They really improved from the first time we played them. Their coaches did an excellent job preparing their team, keeping us out of transition as much as they could. We’re really happy with the win and the way our guys settled down in the third and fourth quarters to come out ahead.”
The win was UMass’ second over the Pride this season. The Minutemen dropped Hofstra on the road, 14-7, on March 23. It also tied a school-record for the Minutemen, who matched Richard F. Garber’s 1981 squad with 13 victories in a season.
“I was very proud of our overall effort,” Hofstra coach John Danowski said. “To win today we would have had to play pretty close to perfect. UMass is a terrific team, playing at home, I was just proud of our guys and their effort. I thought in the third quarter our inability to clear the ball allowed us to play way too much defense and it gave UMass opportunities to score.”
The Minutemen scored three consecutive goals to start the second half, opening up the first multi-goal lead of the game for either squad and sending the Maroon and White to Syracuse for a second round matchup with No. 3 Maryland. Kevin Glenz’s goal at 5:33 turned out to be the game-winner, as he burned Hofstra midfielder Bryan Walker off the goal line extended and stuffed a shot past netminder Matt Southard (11 saves).
“In the third quarter we settled down, we were a little more patient, we didn’t throw the ball away,” Cannella said. “The guys are to be commended on that, to be able to recognize how the game is going and how they need to play.”
“We had some chances that normally we might try to force, and maybe it’s a hit or miss play,” senior midfielder Kevin Leveille said. “We played smart today, and we saw when [the fast break] wasn’t there, we looked to set it up on offense.”
The Pride had a golden opportunity to take the lead at the half, as freshman midfielder John Orsen took a shot from the slot with less than 15 seconds to play. But Schell was up to the task, stopping the laser with his stick and running out the half tied, 4-4.
“John had a great look at the goal,” Danowski said. “In the big game, their guy made the play. John is a freshman and hopefully he’ll learn from this situation. But that was a good play and players make big plays in big plays. Their guy did and our guy didn’t.”
“He made a big save right before the half that kept the game tied,” Cannella said. “That was a huge play, I thought. If they go up 5-4, it’s only one goal, but it’s a big momentum play going into the half.”
The Massachusetts defense, led by first team Eastern College Athletic Conference player Matt Garcia and second teamer Jack Reid, kept the Hofstra offense at bay most of the day, limiting the top two Pride scorers, Joe Kostolansky and Jim Femminella, to just two points for the second time this season.
“Both of those guys are tremendous players, they’ve had great careers at Hofstra,” Cannella said. “Femminella was directly responsible for putting the game into overtime last year here…and Kostolowsky has eaten us up a couple of times, they’re both great shooters.”
Freshman Dane Collins was impressive for the second consecutive week, winning 13 of the 19 faceoffs he took.
“Dane did a good job,” Cannella said. “Thirteen out of 19, that’s a hell of a day for a faceoff guy, whoever it is, but Dane’s been working hard, we told him that we have a lot of faith in him, he’s a young guy, he’s struggled at times this year but we all stand behind him when he gets out there.”
Hofstra also lost star defender Brian Zuchelli in the third quarter to an apparent knee injury. He returned later in the period, but went down for good in the fourth quarter when his knee buckled while he was covering Kevin Leveille.
“Actually, Zuchelli was covering Kevin,” junior attackman Jeff Zywicki said, “but when he came back out there, the first thing I said to Kevin was, I pointed at my knee and said, ‘Take him for a little run. See if you can get him to be a little hesitant.'”
The two teams battled back and forth in the first quarter, with junior Neil Lundberg picking up a pair of goals for the Minutemen, and went to the locker rooms tied at four.
The Minutemen will move on to face Maryland at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse N.Y. on Saturday. The Terrapins advanced via an 8-5 victory over Ohio State.
