The clock winding down in the fourth quarter and momentum swinging in favor of Albany, Mike Tobin pushed the pace in transition and scored a crucial goal. Tobin allowed the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team to take a three-goal lead into the final four minutes and escape Garber Field with a 12-9 win over the Great Danes (1-3).
With Kevin Tobin and Chris Connolly out of the Minutemen’s (2-3) lineup, M. Tobin and Gabriel Procyk played an even more important role on Tuesday than they had the first three games of the season. Procyk returned to attack following a short stint as a midfielder to start the year, and M. Tobin continued to come out of the box as UMass’ top offensive midfielder. The duo combined for seven points in the win.
Tobin and Procyk’s years of experience for the Minutemen was crucial against an Albany defense that was difficult to solve.
“They were mixing it up a bit, they were playing man, and then in the second half they switched to a lot of zone,” M. Tobin said of the Great Danes defense. “So we were ready for that, we knew they were going to junk it up a little bit.”
Tobin’s fourth quarter goal was his eighth score of the season. Tobin finished Tuesday’s game with two goals and one assist for a total of three points, the second-most on the team behind Procyk’s four.
“We were just playing hard, working hard, a lot of ups and downs, its next man up, the team has been working really hard, just have to keep going,” Tobin said of the offensive success.
The final UMass goal of the game came from Procyk, who scored goal No. 11 of the season with two minutes to go in the game, putting UMass up 12-8, which at that point would turn out to be too much for Albany to try and overcome.
“We had to make a couple plays, and Michael Tobin made one at the end, making it 11-8. Matt Weigand made a play at the midline throwing it up to Gabe Procyk and he finished off the game,” head coach Greg Cannella said.
Tobin and Procyk have been UMass’ two most consistent offensive players five games into the season. Procyk is leading the team in points with 13, while Tobin comes in at second with 12 points on the season. K. Tobin is third on the team with 11 points but missed the game on Tuesday with an injury.
Both Procyk and Tobin are very accomplished players at UMass. Procyk led the team in goal scoring with 21 goals in the 2021 season. Procyk is also just three points away from becoming the 44th player in UMass lacrosse history to have 100 or more points.
Tobin has emerged as a star for the Minutemen this season, having already scored eight goals, eclipsing his 2021 mark of five goals not even halfway through the season.
“Gabe has a lot of experience, so he’s done a lot for us in terms of leadership,” Cannella said. “Mike has been very consistent, you know his brother’s out so Mike feels like he needs to pick it up for his brother, he’s played with an attitude the last couple games.”
The Minutemen will play their next game against LIU at home on Saturday, with face-off scheduled for 1 p.m.
Marco Lopez can been reached at [email protected].
