Brian Tedder, Collegian Staff

Brian Tedder, Collegian Staff

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Trailing, 6-2, at the start of the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon, the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team seemed poised to sneak back into the game. Junior Joe Reale won the opening faceoff, and freshman Peter McNichols cut the Yale lead to 6-3 at 12:34 of the period.

But the Bulldogs quickly snatched the momentum away from UMass (1-1), extending their lead back to four when Michael Karwoski fired a shot past Doc Schneider to seal the victory for Yale (1-1). UMass added another late, but the Bulldogs held on for a 7-4 victory.

The game was largely an offensive struggle for the Minutemen. The Bulldog defenders prevented UMass from executing its game plan with strong perimeter defense and superb goalkeeping from senior George Carafides (nine saves).

“I thought we got some looks early, and their goalie made some saves. Our execution wasn’t great, and it was hard to get in the flow of the game,” UMass coach Greg Cannella said.

“In the third and fourth quarter, guys were trying to score three goals at once instead of just taking it one at a time. They tried to take the team on their shoulders, and it’s tough to do that on offense.”

The Minutemen played their trademark strong defense. The Bulldogs managed 25 shots, but the experienced UMass defensive core forced Yale into shots that Schneider had little trouble saving for the most part. He had his second consecutive game with double-digit saves with 13 after a career-high 19 against Hofstra last Saturday.

Allowing seven goals in a game is typically a good thing for teams in Division I lacrosse. But the Yale defenders overshadowed their counterparts in maroon and white. The Bulldogs succeeded especially in shutting down the UMass transition offense.

After Karwoski’s goal put Yale up by four with 7:29 remaining in the game, senior captain Paul Manesis took a pass from Schneider and raced up field. After successfully clearing the UMass zone; and with teammates racing parallel to him on either side, Manesis opted to force his way through two Yale defenders rather than to make a pass. The two Bulldogs converged on him, jarring the ball loose and ending another UMass possession.

“They did a good job riding against us. I don’t know if we were trying to force some clears, but what happens is [Manesis] is a senior and he wants to make plays. He just made a bad decision,” Cannella said.

UMass’s first goal, however, came in the transition game. Freshman attack Zach Rodgers stationed himself at midfield as a loose ball rolled toward the line. He muscled a Yale midfielder out of position and scooped up the ground ball. Junior Tim Balise raced toward the goal, and Rogers quickly located him. Balise caught the pass in stride and fired past Carafides.

The goal, Balise’s first of two on the day, tied the game at 1-1 after Yale scored the first of the game at 4:52 of the first quarter.

Balise’s second score made it 7-4 with 5:21 left in the game. Following the goal, Yale’s Gregory DuBoff won his 11th of 14 faceoffs on the afternoon. Reale won 10-of-16 draws against Hofstra but failed to repeat his success against DuBoff. Sophomore Bobby Hayes took over for Reale at times in the game. He also struggled against DuBoff losing both of the draws he took.

Cannella didn’t blame the poor success rate on faceoffs for UMass’s poor offensive showing. However, it is difficult for attackmen and midfielders to develop a rhythm without regular possession of the ball.

“They won most of the faceoffs, so they had most of the offense. [DuBoff] was dominating us, so we tried to jam him and fight for a loose ball,” Cannella said of replacing Reale with Hayes. “Yale’s guy was someone who [Hayes] had some success against last season.”

UMass’s struggles on the offensive side forced its defenseman to play very aggressively as the game came to a close. Trailing 7-3, senior Brian Danvers leveled a Yale player at midfield and attempted to free the ball with a stick check as he lay on the ground. Officials whistled Danvers and Rogers both on the play, putting the Minutemen down two men with a four-goal deficit.

Joe Meloni can be reached at [email protected].