The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team entered Saturday’s game with an undefeated record and its team firing on all cylinders.
Saturday’s game, however, was a completely different story.
The No.9 Minutemen fell to No. 18 Albany 25-10 on Saturday due to an offensive explosion from the Thompson family at Garber Field.
Albany’s Thompson trio – consisting of brothers Lyle and Miles, and cousin Ty – combined for 15 of the Great Danes’ 25 total goals.
“(The Thompson’s) have been successful against a lot of teams, and today was no different,” UMass coach Greg Cannella said. “Albany came ready to play, they took advantage of opportunities early in the game and took it to us.”
Miles Thompson led all scorers with six goals and one assist, Ty Thompson added five goals and Lyle Thompson contributed with four goals and an assist.
The majority of the Thompson’s goals were highlight reel, behind-the-back and over-the-shoulder shots that goalkeeper Zach Oliveri had no chance of stopping.
“I don’t really have much to say,” Oliveri said. “Albany played great today, they did what they had to and we didn’t do what we needed to win.”
The Great Danes (2-2) recorded 45 total shots as a team and Oliveri only stopped seven that came his way. The Minutemen outshot Albany 53-45 on the game, but Albany controlled the first half with a 32-21 edge.
The Minutemen (4-1) got down in a hole early on as they trailed 7-2 at the end of the first quarter and 16-4 at halftime.
Although it was the offense that stole the show for Albany on Saturday, not to be overlooked was goalkeeper Blaze Riorden’s performance. Riorden had 18 saves and allowed just eight goals in 49 minutes played. UMass tried all game to attack the goalkeeper low, only to have Riorden make numerous saves with his body.
“When you get down 12-2 it’s hard to get in a flow because everyone wants to score right away,” Cannella said. “You get down early and guys start to press a little bit and guys don’t share the ball as much as.”
Matt Whippen led all UMass scorers with two goals and an assist. Standout Nick Mariano was held to just one goal and one assist and was the focal point of the Great Dane’s defensive schemes. Joe Ramano and Paul Spinney each scored a goal, the first of their careers.
Face-off specialist Joe Calvello went 22-for-34 in face-offs. However, many of his wins were short-lived as the Minutemen committed 14 turnovers. Calvello became the first UMass player to win 20 face-offs in a game since 2006.
Despite the lackluster performance, UMass has to move on to its 3 p.m. matchup with Providence Tuesday at Garber Field.
“We’re going to wipe this thing away,” Cannella said. “We have a game on Tuesday so we’ll focus on our next opponent, who is Providence.”
Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.
