After a tough loss last week against Army, the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team bounced back in dominant fashion with a victory over Quinnipiac on Friday afternoon. The Minutemen (1-1) cruised past the Bobcats (0-1) 19-5 in a complete all-around performance at Garber Field. It was the first meeting between the two teams in nearly a decade, with its most recent game coming in 2015.
UMass crushed Quinnipiac in the second half with a 13-2 scoring edge, leading to a game that was a blowout by the end. The scoreboard did not indicate it, but it was a close battle for the first 25 minutes of the game, before the Minutemen blew the doors off the Bobcats.
Quinnipiac struck first with a goal from Cole Marsala and later tied the game at 3-3 with 7:20 left in the second quarter after a score by Nate Watson. However, UMass quickly gained its footing, taking a 6-3 lead into halftime and never looked back on its way to the first win of the 2025 season. The Minutemen are a young group with many new additions, so it was important to get on the board for their first win of the season.
“That’s important,” head coach Greg Cannella said about the confidence boost provided by the first win. “But you really want the older guys to show your guys the way, to play relaxed and not be tentative. It’s important that you see success because you didn’t see it last week.”
In total, 10 players for the Minutemen registered a goal on Friday, with Merrimack transfer Trace Hogan leading the way with a monstrous six goals and two assists for UMass in just his second game with the team.
Freshman Robbie Granara scored a hat trick after registering two in the previous game against Army. In addition to Granara, the new-look Minutemen continued to receive contributions from several freshmen. Defender Will Morse opened the scoring for UMass in the first quarter, scoring his first career goal. Blaise New dished it inside to the Norwell, Massachusetts Native, who finished it off with his long pole.
Another freshman who registered their first career goal for the Minuteman was midfielder Jack Turowsky. Turowsky, another Massachusetts native, got his opportunity in the fourth quarter. He initiated the play behind the net with Aiden Drunsic, first setting a screen on Drunsic’s defender before getting the ball back from Drunsic and curling around the goal for the score.
In all facets of the game, UMass put together an outstanding performance. Offensively, it was the team’s most goals in nearly three years, since putting up 19 goals in a 19-9 win over UMass Lowell on Feb. 19, 2022. Defensively, the Minutemen held the Bobcats to five goals, only managing to hold a team to five goals or under once last season in a 15-3 win over St. Bonaventure.
After UMass struggled with the clear game in its first game of the season, it bounced back with a perfect day, going 15-for-15 in clears.
“Our goal is to be 100 percent clearing the ball every game,” Cannella said. “It rarely happens, it happened today. It was just cleaner, Army rode the heck out of us. A little bit different today, [Quinnipiac] didn’t ride us the way that Army did.”
The Minutemen will be busy with two games coming up within the next eight days and a short turnaround before its next game on Tuesday. The team will practice on Sunday and Monday before its next game on Tuesday, Feb. 18, taking on Dartmouth at Garber Field. Faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
“Rest is paramount … it’s rest, it’s recovery sessions with Antwan Harris, who’s our strength coach,” Cannella said of preparation for Tuesday’s game.
Marco Lopez can be reached at [email protected].
