Rainy conditions posed no problem for the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team who traveled to take on the UMass Lowell River Hawks and defeated them 11-3, carrying over momentum from last Saturday’s win to give them their second straight.
“Good road win for us,” head coach Greg Cannella said after the game.
UMass’ (2-0) Gabriel Procyk scored four on the day, and surpassed 100 career goals, and Will Abbott who scored a hat-trick led the charge for the Minutemen who dominated offensively all game. Paired with Mike Tobin scoring two and Tim Hoynes and Grant Breyo each scoring one, it seemed like everything was clicking offensively as the Minutemen were able to out-score UMass Lowell (0-2) 7-1 in the second half. The Minutemen also combined for 40 shots on the day, scoring 11, with four of the goals coming in the third quarter.
“We chipped away, [UMass Lowell’s] goalie was tough,” Cannella said. “When you’re on the road and you get the opportunities we had … you have to put them home.”
Along with the great game from the Minutemen’s offensive leaders, goalkeeper Matt Knote and his defense were able to keep the game from getting out of hand. Knote saved more than half the shots that came his way, totaling nine stops on 17 shots. Knote, who was also named USA lacrosse magazine Division I Player of the week for his performance against Army West Point, had another strong game and proved to be one of UMass’ most important players.
UMass’ defense created many challenges for their opponent as UMass Lowell was unable to get a shot off before the shot clock expired and was forced to surrender possession numerous times throughout the game. The Minutemen’s strong defensive stances and physical gameplay created many stops that the offense was able to capitalize on. The Minutemen’s defense held the River Hawks scoreless in the third quarter, which allowed UMass to break away and take a commanding lead.
“Noah Fossner’s doing a great job with the group,” Cannella said about his assistant coach when asked about his defense’s performance. “They have a ton of pride in what they do, and they play with intensity. That’s the name of the game.”
The Minutemen were able to force the River Hawks to turn the ball over 21 times while causing 11 of those turnovers, which aided in the dominant defensive performance. UMass also dominated in ball possession against UMass Lowell by winning both face-off and ground ball battles. UMass won 10 out of the 16 face-offs and won 25 ground ball battles, five more than the River Hawks’ won.
UMass played a physical game against UMass Lowell and despite it appearing like it may be a close matchup after the first half as it was only 4-2, UMass excelled in all three phases of the game and pulled away in the second half to secure another win.
“You want to be consistent in your outcomes and how you play in those games,” Cannella said about the hot 2-0, but added that this early in the season, the team needs to continue with this consistency. “It doesn’t mean a thing at this point, and we have to go back to work on Monday.”
The action continues on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3:15 p.m. when UMass returns to Garber Field to take on Boston University.
Samantha Sands can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @samanthasands_.
