The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team was outmatched from the beginning in a 15-7 nonconference loss to No. 7 Brown Saturday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island.

UMass (2-3) appeared outclassed against the Bears (3-0), as the eight-goal margin marks its largest defeat on the young season.

“It was a very good team,” Minutemen coach Greg Cannella said. “They’re a great transition team. They took it to us early and from there we were too far behind to ever come back.”

Brown used a nine-goal first half to put the game out of reach early. The Bears wasted no time jumping out to an early lead when senior Brendan Caputo scored just one minute, 27 seconds into the first quarter, a lead they would hold for the rest of the day.

Brown scored three more times in the first quarter to take a 4-0 lead into the second quarter, when junior Brendan Hegarty got UMass on the board with a man-up goal with 11:25 remaining in the second quarter.

However, the rest of the quarter belonged to Brown.

Five more goals from the Bears in the second quarter led to a 9-1 lead heading into halftime, thanks to a pair of goals from seniors Henry Blynn and Bailey Tills, with Tills’ the final goal of the half coming just three seconds before the buzzer.

The 10-minute break at the half did little to help the Minutemen, as Brown came out of the locker and scored the first three goals of the second half, putting the Bears ahead 12-1. Tills and Blynn scored another goal each in the second half, leading Brown’s attack on the day with four goals and three goals, respectively.

Tills scored on all four of the shots he took, beating the UMass goalkeeper – D.J. Smith, Dan Dolan and Sean Sconone all got playing time – every team he sent the ball in the direction of the net.

“He’s an excellent athlete, very efficient in what he did, and a great change of direction,” Cannella said.

Redshirt junior Dan Muller scored with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter, bringing the score to 12-2, sparking a bit of momentum for the Minutemen as they scored twice in just over two minutes to open up the fourth quarter, picking up goals from sophomore Buddy Carr and junior Gianni Bianchin.

That momentum did not last for very long, however, as 17 seconds later Michael Panepinto scored and 11 seconds after that Kylor Bellistri found the back of the cage, putting the Bears ahead by double digits once again, leading 14-4.

Smith played the first half in cage and Dolan came into the game at halftime as UMass has done in each game this year, but after falling behind 15-5 with 9:18 to go, Sconone checked in and received his first collegiate action.

Sconone saved three shots and did not allow any goals, as the Minutemen scored a pair of goals in the final 5:08 to bring the final score to 15-7.

UMass scored seven goals from seven different players, as Muller and Carr (one goal, one assist each) were the only players on the Minutemen to pick up multiple points.

On the biggest loss yet, Cannella does not see much that the coaching staff can take away from the defeat.

“The only thing you can take away is that the guys never quit, the guys kept fighting,” he said. “But you don’t take a lot away from that type of game honestly, once you’re not in the game, you know.”

The Minutemen face another quick turnaround as they will be in action again Tuesday, hosting Albany.

“They’re an excellent team, haven’t beaten them since 2012,” Cannella said. “Very strong program. They play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

Opening faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Garber Field.

Jamie Cushman can be reached at [email protected].