The Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team dropped its 2025 season opener to No. 13 Army on Saturday afternoon in Amherst. The Black Knights (1-0) led from start to finish and defeated the Minutemen (0-1) 16-9. The loss marked the second consecutive year that Army has defeated UMass to open the season.
“Obviously it didn’t go the way we planned,” head coach Greg Cannella said. “It seemed like we were nervous in the first quarter, tentative [and we] did a poor job clearing the ball the way we had been successful in our first few scrimmages.”
After the Black Knights scored the first six goals of the game, the young Minutemen recovered significantly in the second quarter. Cannella put freshman goalie Owen Salanger into the game at goal, replacing Tyler Bluse. That decision worked, as in the second, UMass outscored Army 4-1 to trail by just three goals at the half. Ultimately, the Black Knights slammed the door on the Minutemen in the third, outscoring them 6-1 to cruise to a season-opening victory.
The Gorillas’ newcomers were on full display in this game. Freshman midfielder Tyler Clayton led the team in scoring, recording a hat trick in his collegiate debut. Freshman Robbie Granara got the start at attack and scored two goals for UMass. Merrimack transfer Trace Hogan also played a significant role in the Minutemen’s offense, scoring one goal and dishing out three assists in his UMass debut.
Clayton, the leading scorer for the Minutemen on the afternoon, did most of his damage in the second half. Clayton entered the scoresheet in dramatic fashion in the third quarter, picking up the loose ball off an errant Army pass and taking it all the way to the goal for his first career score.
“[Clayton’s] been really good all year, a two-way midfielder, can play defense and offense,” Cannella said. “[Clayton] played, he wasn’t nervous, he went for it.”
The second quarter was the best period of the game for UMass, a bright spot for a team featuring a lot of freshmen, transfers and returners in expanded roles. Salanger was nearly perfect in the second, allowing only one goal in the frame that came off a transition play from the Black Knights. Blaise New helped to open the scoring in the second, rifling a pass to Aiden Drunsic near the crease that led to the junior bouncing in the Minutemen’s opening goal.
“The second quarter was just guys settling in, being a little more confident and being a little more opportunistic,” Cannella said. “[Salanger] made a couple saves for us there as well and just [led to] some opportunity on the offensive end. I know we gave them one transition goal there which we hate to give up but that’s part of the game, [that’s] part of what they do really well.”
Salanger was in at goalie for the vast majority of the game, playing 45 minutes and posting a solid debut performance with 13 saves. UMass hopes that the freshman from Liverpool, N.Y. is the answer at the goalie position after years of consistency under Matt Knote, who left the Gorillas this past spring and turned pro.
“Give a lot of credit to [Salanger] for going into the game pretty much cold and he had 13 saves, so pretty good day for him as a freshman [in his] first time playing,” Cannella said.
UMass will return to action on Friday, Feb. 14, seeking its first win of the season against Quinnipiac at Garber Field. Face-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Marco Lopez can be reached at [email protected].
