Mike Tobin continued to be a focal point of the offense in the Massachusetts’s men’s lacrosse team’s 11-10 loss to Saint Joseph’s on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Tobin scored one goal in the contest in what was a slow second half for UMass (7-5, 2-2 Atlantic-10), leading to their lowest point total of A-10 conference play so far. However, Tobin continued to stay aggressive and took eight shots for the Minutemen against Saint Joseph’s (9-4, 4-0 A-10) after a season-high 12 shot attempts against St. Bonaventure last week.
Since the start of A-10 conference play, Tobin’s involvement in the Minutemen offense has skyrocketed. Early in the season, he was coming out of the box as a midfielder for Greg Cannella’s team and averaged 1.9 points per game in non-conference play. Since the start of A-10 play, Tobin has been given the keys to the offense, recording three consecutive hat tricks against High Point, Richmond, and St. Bonaventure. After the 12-10 win over High Point, Tobin was named the A-10 offensive player of the week.
With the struggles UMass has had all season on the offensive-end of the field, Cannella has experimented with different players and combinations. Early in the year, Tobin had several games where he only took two shots a game and other players like Dillon Arrant carried more of a load. Now, the Minutemen have seemed to have found a core group of Tobin, Gabriel Procyk, Carter Castillo and Mason Bregman to command the offense.
Tobin’s dominance in A-10 play is reflected in the statistical leaderboards for the conference, where Tobin led the A-10 in shots per game (8.33) coming into the game against Saint Joseph’s. He also is fourth in goals per game (3) and third in points per game (4.33).
Tobin has been an all-around player all season for the Minutemen. Tobin is listed as a midfielder rather than an attack, one of the most versatile positions in the sport. In addition to his goal scoring prowess, he also excels at playmaking, with 14 assists so far this season, ranking first on the team. In today’s game against Saint Joseph’s, Tobin was able to collect a season-high three ground balls, doing the dirty work for his team as well. The senior has constantly been praised for his leadership and toughness on and off the field.
“He’s just playing with a lot of confidence, he’s a tremendous leader,” Cannella said of Tobin after his hat trick against St. Bonaventure. “He’s scored goals late in games for us as well not just early … whether it’s happening early or not he’s still plugging away and taking his opportunities.”
Tobin has improved his game and his efficiency over his four seasons in Amherst. He’s been rewarded for it, starting a career-high nine games so far this season for the Minutemen. His 24.6 percent shot percentage, and his 59.6 shot on goal percentages are both improvements over his marks from last season.
As one of UMass’ most skilled offensive players, Tobin has a variety of different ways to score and create. Against Richmond, Tobin scored by performing a beautiful spin-move, shaking the defender and shooting a spectacular shot low to the ground that went right through the legs of the goaltender.
Tobin with his second of the day and we are back within 3.#GorillaLacrosse 🦍 x #Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/9QVp0mQt9I
— UMass Men's Lacrosse (@UMassMLacrosse) April 8, 2023
In Saturday’s matchup against Saint Joseph’s, Tobin was able to dodge and used his speed to drive past the defender and score an incredible bouncing shot as he fell to the ground. The perfectly calculated shot bounced right into the net.
Tobin scores but the Hawks respond with a pair
SJU 6, UMass 3, – Q1 – 12:17#GorillaLacrosse🦍 X #Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/ekRylQTmLs
— UMass Men's Lacrosse (@UMassMLacrosse) April 22, 2023
With one game left on the regular season schedule and every remaining game essentially being an elimination game, the success of UMass’ season will rest on the performance of Tobin and the rest of the offensive unit the rest of the way.
Marco Lopez can be reached at [email protected].
