For the first time since 1996, the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team will take on Delaware Saturday afternoon in hopes of rebounding after its first conference defeat last Saturday at Garber Field.
No. 12 UMass (8-3, 2-1 Colonial Athletic Association) fell to Towson, 10-9, and with three games left to go in the regular season, coach Greg Cannella wants his team to stay positive, despite the setback last weekend.
“There might be a different mindset, but hopefully it’s the same mindset that you have each week, and we try to talk to our guys about that,” Cannella said. “But, there’s probably more of a sense of urgency when you lose, and you have a little bit greater focus because the guys want to rebound.”
In the loss, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Tim McCormack continued to gain momentum since the 11-10 victory over No. 18 Brown on March 23, where he made 17 saves.
McCormack made 18 stops against the Tigers, a career-high, and made 12 saves each in victories over No. 11 Hofstra and Penn State.
In his past four games, McCormack has a 61.5 save percentage, and has a 9.51 goals against average in nine starts this season.
Over the course of 2010, McCormack has a 54.3 save percentage, after sitting out all last season.
“Hopefully for us, if your goalie makes 18 saves, you can win the game, but unfortunately, we didn’t, but he’s been very consistent for us,” Cannella said. “It’s the middle of the year, so we are happy to see that.”
The Minutemen beat the Blue Hens, 13-11, the last time the two teams met in 1996, and hold a 7-2 all-time record against Delaware (5-6, 0-2 CAA).
Between the 1985-1996 seasons, the teams met in 10 of the 11 seasons, which were usually high-scoring games.
In the last three meetings between the teams, there were 27 combined goals, with the Blue Hens winning by one goal in 1994 and 1995.
UMass continues to generate offense, and is eighth in the NCAA in goals per game (12.9), while Delaware (11.2) is 16th.
Six Minutemen have 10 or more goals, while seven different players have at least 10 points.
Against the Tigers, UMass could not set up its offensive sets, relying on offense more in transition, rather than on 6-on-6 play.
“We turned the ball over a bunch of times, particularly in the third and fourth quarter,” Cannella said.
The Minutemen had 15 turnovers throughout the game, with nine in the second half.
Sophomore Anthony Biscardi led UMass with three goals, while freshman attackman Will Manny had two goals. Ryan Hantverk, Steve D’Amario, Kyle Smith and Diogo Godoi each had a goal in the game.
Delaware is coming off a 12-11 overtime loss to the Hofstra Pride last Saturday in the Big City Classic, the first game ever played at the new Meadowlands Stadium. The Blue Hens also lost to the Tigers, 9-7, back on April 3, and have lost five of their last six contests.
“They’re a very athletic team, you love the way they play, they’re an up-and-down team that will run-and-gun on you,” Cannella said. “It’s a fun style of play for them, and we’re going to have to do our best to slow that down a little bit, so it is a challenge for us.”
The Blue Hens are led on the offensive end by attackman Curtis Dickson, who leads the team in goals and is second in the country with 42 scores, while Massachusetts native Martin Cahill leads the midfield line with 25 goals.
UMass’ defense will have its hands full with the duo, and currently ranks\ fourth in the country in caused turnovers (10.4).
“Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is, hopefully our guys can bounce back, we’ve done well with that this year, and for the most part, our focus has been pretty solid win or lose,” Cannella said.
David Brinch can be reached at [email protected].
