While many followed the Massachusetts men’s basketball team’s loss in Atlantic City, N.J., and others celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in downtown Amherst, there was a crowd of 1,043 at Garber Field on Saturday afternoon.
Set against partly-cloudy skies, the No. 5 Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team conquered Hartford, 14-5, in a game of hat tricks, first-ever goals and rough-and-tough defense.
“You’re just happy for the guys and the effort they put out every day,” said UMass coach Greg Cannella. “It allows them to put out a quality effort out on the game field.”
The quality effort for the Minutemen came from both the sides of the ball, as the defense pressured and tamed the Hawks. Goalkeeper Tim McCormack led the defensive side with 11 saves.
“Hartford’s a great team, putting up good numbers all year, so to hold them is a very good game for us,” said McCormack. “[It was a] good win, good defensive stance, offense put up numbers, that’s all you can ask for.”
All the hard work from the defense translated into goals, including hat tricks from Art Kell and Colin Fleming. Will Manny – who leads the team with 18 goals for the season – finished the game with a pair. Mike Fetterly added two goals of his own, with Bobby Tyler, Kyle Smith, Ryan Izzo and Brett Tobin all contributing, as well.
For Tobin, his score in the third period was his first ever in a maroon and white uniform. Normally a defensive player, Tobin stormed up the field and slammed home a shot to put the Minutemen in double-digits.
“Those guys dream of that,” said Cannella. “They’re not in the highlights really ever, they do a lot of the dirty work and that dirty work is essential to the success of the team.”
Another competitor who got time to shine on the field late in the fourth quarter was goalkeeper Reed Goodhue, who backs up McCormack and had played eight minutes, 22 seconds prior to the game against the Hawks.
“He does awesome,” said McCormack. “He’s got the trust of every guy on this team.”
And working together as a team was surely the key on Saturday, as rough defensive efforts by UMass – which forced 14 Hartford turnovers – allowed the offense to push forward and spring towards the Hartford goal.
“I think anytime you can score it helps the defense relax a little bit and play their game,” said Cannella. “Again, we were able to score, but we were also able to defend, and that’s the name of the game. You’ve got to defend people.”
The Minutemen defended from the opening whistle, forced back after the Hawks won the faceoff. Although immediately on the defensive, UMass responded, as it would all game, with a quick turnover and subsequent strike by Izzo, one that put the Minutemen up after just 1:23 of play.
Defensive efforts continued to translate into goals in the first period, as hard shellings by Izzo and Smith forced turnovers and more possession for the Minutemen. Once the opening period was all said and done, UMass had a 5-1 lead.
All the energy and momentum the Minutemen had in the first period died down significantly in the second period, as Hartford came right out of the break with a pair of goals to make it three-straight scores.
But UMass didn’t stay on defense for long, as it came right back with three goals of its own, including slashers by Fleming and Manny, both nearly cutting holes in the net. The swift goals gave the Minutemen an 8-3 lead going into the break.
Things didn’t slow down from there. The third period was similar to the first, as UMass again outscored the Hawks 5-1 with goals from Fleming, Tyler, Kell, Manny and Tobin.
As the clock ticked down in the fourth, both teams garnered a goal apiece.
The Minutemen will head to Penn State next Saturday as their non-conference schedule begins to wind down.
Herb Scribner can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Scribner.
