After a heart-breaking last second loss to Brown last week, the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team bounced back in a big way with a road win at No. 16 Saint Joseph’s on Saturday. The Minutemen (8-2, 1-0 Atlantic 10) led for nearly the entire game and held off the nationally ranked Hawks (7-3, 0-1 A-10) 11-10 for a close win in the A-10 opener.
“I thought it went well, hard fought game,” head coach Greg Cannella said. “The guys persevered throughout, through four quarters and did a nice job.”
For the third straight game, it was a one-goal differential that separated UMass and its opponent. With the Minutemen trying to hold on to a two-goal lead in the final minute of the game, a costly turnover by Zach Auble led to a goal scored by Jack McGorry to get Saint Joseph’s to within a goal.
After the Hawks won the ensuing faceoff, they had a chance to tie the game and force overtime. With 12 seconds left, Ben Dutton attempted a behind-the-back shot that was masterfully saved by freshman goalkeeper Owen Salanger to seal the win.
Dutton, the leader on the season for Saint Joseph’s in goal scoring with 28 so far this season, was held scoreless for the first time in the 2025 campaign by the Minutemen defense. This was despite 12 attempted shots and six on goal, including the potential game-tying goal that was saved in the final seconds of the game.
Salanger made several critical saves for UMass. The last-second save proved to be the most important one, but in a one-goal game every save was crucial for the Minutemen to come away with the win and start 1-0 in A-10 play. With 5:12 remaining, Dutton had a point-blank shot right in front of the cage that was saved by Salanger. Salanger also denied Dutton at the end of the third quarter, which kept the UMass advantage at two goals going into the fourth quarter.
“The defense was good late, they were excellent throughout the game, holding a team like that down,” Cannella said. “[Saint Joseph’s] scores 12-plus, 13-plus goals a game, so they played well throughout the game and [Salanger] was very composed throughout the game as well.”
The goalie from Liverpool, New York has been one of the best in the country at his position so far this season, continuing his stellar freshman year with a 13-save effort on Saturday. Coming into the game, Salanger ranked No. 5 in the nation with a 7.54 goals against average.
The advantage in this area was a key ingredient to helping the Minutemen stave off any attempts by the Hawks to make a run.
“Against a team that can score like St. Joe’s, it’s really important,” Cannella said of the importance of faceoffs in the win. “We needed every one of those possessions on the faceoff. It kind of propelled us in a couple of those quarters to keep possession or if St. Joe’s scored to get possession back and try to keep them out of some runs.
After a tough outing last week against Brown, in which he was held scoreless for the first time in his UMass career, Trace Hogan bounced back with a two-goal and three-assist outing. Hogan was in the right place at the right time for his two scores.
First, to tie the game early on at 2-2, Hogan got the rebound and scored right after Caelin Lewis banged one off the post. In the second quarter, a Brady Hoff shot rang off the post and Hogan was again there to clean it up and score his second of the day.
Robbie Granara was the Gorillas’ leading scorer on the day, scoring three goals, his fourth game this season recording at least a hat trick. The freshman from Reading, Massachusetts scored his third goal of the day on a familiar connection with Hogan, where Hogan operated from behind the cage and dished it inside to Granara for the score. That goal in the fourth quarter gave the Minutemen a three-goal advantage with a little over eight minutes remaining.
Caelin Lewis also made his season debut in the game and scored one goal. Lewis scored 13 goals last season and could be an added boost to the Minutemen attack.
“Obviously he’s a big kid and athletic because of his size … he can potentially get to the goal and also shoot with some range on the perimeter,” Cannella said about what Lewis could bring to the team moving forward.
The Minutemen will return to action for their second game of conference play on Saturday, April 5, when they will take on High Point at Garber Field. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Marco Lopez can be reached at [email protected].
