(RV) UMASS (0-0) vs. SACRED HEART (0-0)
Saturday, February 14, 2009 • 1 p.m.
Garber Field (5,000/Artificial Turf)
Amherst, Mass.
Live Video/Audio: UMassAthletics.com

Men's Lacrosse Opens Season At Home Saturday Vs. Sacred Heart
The UMass men's lacrosse team is set to open its 2009 season on Saturday at 1 p.m. as it hosts Sacred Heart at Garber Field. The Minutemen are coming off a tough 5-9 season, but feature a deep roster with 18 newcomers, including 14 freshmen. Despite falling in last year's meeting against the Pioneers, UMass still holds a 5-1 record in the all-time series. Saturday's contest will be broadcast on internet only with Adam Frenier and former UMass All-American Norm Smith on the call. action. UMassAthletics.com will feature links to live streaming video, audio and Gametracker.

The Series With Sacred Heart
• The Pioneers won their first ever game against the Minutemen last season, 9-7, on Mar. 18. The teams have played each season since 2003.

• Before Sacred Heart's win, UMass had won the first five meetings by an average margin of 6.2. In that span, the Minutemen won by at least five on every occasion.

• UMass leads 3-0 in the all-time series in Amherst including the 2003 season opener, a UMass win over Sacred Heart in the earliest-ever game (Feb. 22) prior to this season topper on Feb. 14.

The Last Meeting
• Despite racking up a season-high 50 shots, the UMass men's lacrosse team suffered its first-ever loss to Sacred Heart, falling 9-7, on Tuesday afternoon. The Minutemen continued to put pressure on Pioneer goalie Ricardo Vargas, but he came up with 13 saves. Freshman attacker Peter McNichols posted his first-career hat trick while fellow frosh midfielder Ryan Hantverk had two goals for his first-career multi-goal game for UMass, which fell to 2-4 overall.

• UMass' other goals came from junior Tim Balise, who also had two assists and Bobby Hayes, who had a tally and helper. The Minutemen dominated face-offs as Joe Reale won 13-of-18 as UMass took 14-of-20. The groundballs were even at 36-36 with Reale scooping a game-best nine. UMass goalie Doc Schneider made 11 saves. UMass peppered Vargas all afternoon and possessed the ball most of the fourth quarter, but were unable to overcome the deficit.

• Hayes scored at the end of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 9-6 on a man-up tally with 21 seconds left in the third. Then, Hantverk scored 14 seconds in the fourth to bring UMass within two at 9-7.

• Stephen Gerhard made it 9-5 SHU with 1:50 left in the third after Tim Russo and Morgan scored 40 seconds apart to give the Pioneers an 8-5 lead with 2:59 left in the third quarter. That came after Balise scored to cut the lead to 6-5.

• Katz and Peter Ridge put SHU back on top after the Minutemen had tied the game at 4-4, as they tallied back-to-back goals to make it 6-4 Pioneers with 9:39 left in the third.

• McNichols recorded his first collegiate hat trick with his third goal of the game 1:53 into the second half, to tie the game at 4-4. The Minutemen had crept back to within one goal at 4-3 on the opening chance of the second half as Reale won the face-off fed Balise, who hit McNichols, just 16 seconds in the half.

• UMass tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of goals by freshmen early in the second quarter. Hantverk made it 2-1 on an unassisted goal with 13:41 left in the second quarter. Then McNichols tied the game off a feed from Hayes with 11:34 left in the second, making it 2-2. But Sacred Heart scored the game's next two goals to take a 4-2 lead into halftime as Nicholas Russo netted a pair of goals (including a man-down tally) over a span of about four minutes. UMass outshot SHU, 25-14 in the first half, but had just two goals to show for it.

• Sacred Heart jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter as Katz and Dan Casciano scored 10 seconds apart at 4:42 and 4:32, respectively. The Minutemen piled up 10 shots in the first quarter, but were unable to crack Vargas, who had three saves in the period.

Season Openers
• UMass has an all-time record of 28-26-1 in season openers.

• This will mark the second time the Minutemen have ever opened their season against Sacred Heart. The teams did play each other in the first game of the season on Feb. 22.

• This marks the earliest season opener in program history. The previos earliest opener was the 2003 game against Sacred Heart.

UMass Receiving Votes IN USILA Poll
• On Monday, the USILA men's lacrosse poll was released and UMass comes in fourth in "Others Receiving Votes."

• The two teams that the Minutemen beat in preseason exhibitions, Drexel and Army, are ahead of them in the others receiving votes category. UMass is set to play six teams currently in the top 20 this season: Syracuse (1), Georgetown (7), Hofstra (13), Brown (14), Loyola (17), and Albany (18) along with Penn State (RV), and Harvard (RV).

Schneider A Super Senior
• Senior goalie Doc Schneider enters his senior season as one of the best stoppers in program history.

• With one full season remaining, he stands in fourth on the UMass all-time saves list with 548. Next up is Tom LoPresti in third with 562. With a good season, he has a chance to finish his career in second on the all-time list, only trailing great Sal LoCascio who recorded an unworldly 931 stops which is the most in NCAA history.

• Schneider was named an Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Magazine preseason honorable mention All-American prior to the season. It marks the second All-American honor bestowed upon Schneider. The first came prior to the 2007 campaign after he led the Minutemen to a magical run to the National Championship Game in his freshman year (2006).

• In his first three seasons in Amherst, Schneider has been one of the top goalies in UMass lacrosse history.

• As a true freshman in 2006, he led the Minutemen to a 13-5 record and an appearance in the National Finals after NCAA Tournament wins over Cornell, Hofstra, and Maryland. His stellar 15 save performance against the Terrapins sent the Minutemen into the Title Game where he made 17 saves against an undefeated Virginia squad. For the effort, he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.

• Also that year, he was named New England Rookie of the Year, along with Inside Lacrosse All-Rookie Team. His 220 saves during his freshman campaign marked the fourth most in UMass history.

• In 2007, Schneider was named a second-team All-ECAC performer, All-New England First Team, and was a Tewaaraton Trophy Candidate (an award given to the nation's top lacrosse player).

• Last season, Schneider posted a 59.5 save percentage and 8.42 GAA. He won a number of weekly awards including LaxNews.com College Beat National Player of the Week after a career-high 20 saves at Georgetown. He was also named ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week following 15 saves in a win at Penn State. Schneider also won three awards (Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week, ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, and UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athlete of the Week) after 19 saves in a season-opening win vs. Hofstra.

UMass Picked Fifth In ECAC
• The UMass men's lacrosse team has been picked to finish second in the ECAC Lacrosse League according to a vote of the league coaches. The Minutemen racked up 29 points.

• The Georgetown Hoyes have been chosen as the favorites to capture the 2009 ECAC Lacrosse League title. The Hoyas have been picked first by league coaches for 10 straight years and have won the title seven times.

• Loyola, who won the ECAC title last season, were picked second with 43 points (three first place votes) while Penn State and Rutgers are tied for third. Fairfield, Hobart, and St. John's come in sixth, seventh, and eighth.

2009 ECAC Lacrosse
Preseason Poll
(As voted on by league coaches)
1. Georgetown (5) 47 pts
2. Loyola (3) 43 pts
3. Penn State 33 pts
3. Rutgers 33 pts
5. Massachusetts 29 pts
6. Fairfield 14 pts
7. Hobart 13 pts
8. St. John's 12 pts

Godoi Named To Preseason All-ECAC Team
• UMass men's lacrosse Redshirt junior defender Diogo Godoi has been named to the preseason All-ECAC team as announced on Thursday. Godoi had the strongest season of his career in 2007 when he scooped up 27 ground balls while causing a team-leading 17 turnovers. He played in all 14 games, starting 12 of them.

Gorillas At Home
• Since the 1960s, UMass has been known as the Garber Gorillas in honor of head coach Dick Garber and his first big time recruit from New York, Kevin O'Connor (1967-69). UMass has won 26 of the last 34 games spanning four years, dating back to 2004. UMass finished 3-4 in 2008 after going 4-3 in 2007 and 7-1 in 2006.They won 14 games in a row at home from 2004 through 2006.

• In 2005, UMass posted a perfect 8-0 record at home tying its record for best home record without a loss at 8-0, which was set in 1981. It was the first time since 1992 UMass went undefeated at home, as it went 6-0 that season.

• Since the start of the 2001 season, UMass is 50-13 at Garber Field, winning 79 percent of the games at the friendly confines.

Big Winners Over Last 8 Years
• With the 13-5 record two years ago on the way to the NCAA Championship game and the 5-9 mark in 2008, UMass is now 82-40 over the last seven seasons for a 67.2 win percentage, which is the eighth-best in college lacrosse. The Minutemen were second coming into the 2007 season.

Lucky Number 11 & 10
• UMass has won 39 games in a row when scoring 11 or more goals after its 13-8 win at St. John's (4/5). The Minutemen had four wins in 2007 with 11 goals or more, beating Harvard (11-10), Sacred Heart (11-4), St. John's (11-7) and Hobart (17-12). The streak goes back over the last seven years -- meaning this year's senior class has never lost when scoring 11 or more goals. UMass' last loss when they had more than 11 came in the 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals, a 13-12 loss at Johns Hopkins.

• UMass is 28-0 when scoring 10 or more goals over the last five years. UMass is 1-0 this year and was 5-0 last season when reaching double-figures. The last loss when scoring 10 goals came on May 1, 2004, a 17-10 loss at Syracuse.

UMass To Join CAA In 2010
• The Colonial Athletic Association announced back in June that it will add the University of Massachusetts and Penn State University as associate members in the sport of men's lacrosse beginning with the 2010 season. UMass and Penn State join the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University and Towson University to form a competitive six-team conference whose champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship.

• A realignment of men's lacrosse conferences nationally - spurred by the Big East Conference and Northeast Conference's new sponsorship of the sport - led to the changes in CAA membership. Current members Sacred Heart and Robert Morris will move to the NEC and Villanova will move to the Big East following the 2009 campaign. Yeager said that the CAA will continue to evaluate additional membership options.

Season Full Of Streaks
• The Minutemen had an up-and-down 2008 campaign which had many highlights, including three-consecutive ECAC wins, UMass' first victory over Albany since 2003, and a season-opening win over #17 Hofstra.

• The season started with a dominant defensive effort in an 8-4 win over the Pride. After dropping the next two, the Minutemen bounced back with a 9-8 home win over defending National Quarterfinalist Albany.

• The team then lost three in a row, but came back with three-consecutive ECAC victories over Penn State (7-5), St. John's (13-8), and Hobart (8-7 in OT) to get itself right back into the ECAC title race.

• The following week, the Minutemen dropped a hard-fought 12-8 game to #5 Georgetown. In that contest, UMass cut an 8-3 Georgetown lead to 8-7 before the Hoyas put up a strong fourth quarter for the win.

• Two one-goal defeats (to Fairfield and Rutgers) and a loss to #1 (and eventual National Champion) Syracuse concluded the season.

Balise, Godoi All-ECAC
• UMass junior attacker Tim Balise and sophomore defenseman Diogo Godoi were named to the ECAC Lacrosse All-Conference Second Team. Balise led the ECAC in goals with 33 while Godoi was a key to the team's success on defense as he led the squad in caused turnovers with 17. Both were first-time honorees. In 2007, Jim Connolly was named to the first team and Brett Garber, Doc Schneider, and Dan Whipple were on the second team.

Three Named All New England
• Three UMass men's lacrosse players were named to the NEILA All-New England Team for 2008. Junior attackman Tim Balise, senior long-stick midfielder Brian Danvers and junior goalie Doc Schneider were all named to the second team. Danvers and Schneider were both named to the first team in 2007.

• Balise led UMass with 33 goals and 39 points. He topped the ECAC in goals and ranked tied for fourth in total points. He finished tied for 16th in total goals in the NCAA (33) and tied for 16th in the NCAA in goals per game (2.36).

• Danvers was an athletic defender, who was a team captain as a senior, starting every game as the long-stick defensive midfielder. In 14 games, he led the team with 36 groundballs along with 15 caused turnovers and his first career goal. He helped anchor a defense that posted an 8.56 GAA.

• Schneider earned NEILA All-New England for the third year in a row. He stands fourth all-time at UMass in career saves with 548 as he became the the fifth in UMass history with 500 career saves. Schneider had a 8.42 GAA and 59.5 save percentage in 2008. He led the ECAC in saves per game with 12.1. He was second in the ECAC in save percentage and fourth in goals against average. Schneider ranked ninth in the NCAA in save percentage, and 19th in goals against average in the nation. He posted UMass' 15th-best single-season save total in 2008 with 169.

Balise An Academic All-American
• Junior attacker Tim Balise was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American Second Team four at-large sports, which includes lacrosse. Balise, who has a 4.0 GPA in Psychology, was UMass' first Academic All-American since Harold Drumm, who was a second-team member in 1998. Balise was earlier named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I Men's At-Large First-Team. He was the lone member of that team with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Danvers, Krygier In North-South Game
• Senior defensive stars Brian Danvers and Sean Krygier were selected to play in the prestigious 67th USILA North-South All-Star Game on Friday, May 23, at Harvard Stadium in Boston. The game was held in conjunction with the NCAA Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium. Danvers was named MVP of the game after he scored three goals and added two assists. The North defeated the South, 20-11. Danvers was the third UMass player to earn MVP joining Brendan Glass, Mark Millon and Tom LoPresti, who collected the honors in the 1990s.

Krygier's Academic Honors
• Sean Krygier was named a USILA Scholar All-American. He was one of 14 Division I honorees. He joins Brian Jacovina as back-to-back Scholar All-Americans from UMass. The pair joins Harold Drumm and Mike DelPercio as the only four USILA Scholar All-Americans in UMass history. Krygier was also named to the Ninth Annual Division I All-New England Scholar Athlete team. Krygier was a double-major in Sport Management and Finance with a 3.6 GPA.

Three Minutemen Drafted
• UMass had three players selected in the 2008 Major League Lacrosse College Draft on, May 27, in Hoboken, N.J. Midfielder Paul Manesis was taken in the third round (No. 26) by the Boston Cannons. Defenseman Sean Krygier was taken in the fourth round (No. 36) by the San Francisco Dragons. Defenseman Brian Danvers was the final pick of the draft at No. 50 by the Long Island Lizards. Also, UMass great Sean Morris was traded to the Boston Cannons, by the Chicago Machine for the No. 8 overall selection. With three selections, only four schools had more picks than UMass. National champion Syracuse had five followed by Johns Hopkins, Duke and Notre Dame with four. UMass was joined by Virginia and Princeton with three selections.

• Manesis ('08) was also selected by the Boston Blazers in the National Lacrosse League Entry Draft, Sept. 12. The defensive midfielder, who was picked in the fifth round (56th overall), will reunite with former Minutemen standouts Sean Morris ('06) and Jack Reid ('06) in Boston's inaugural season at the TD Banknorth Garden.