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No. 9 Men's Lacrosse Continues Road Trek At Bucknell
March 7, 2013
The Last Meeting
February 18, 2012
Amherst, Mass.
QUICK HITS
In 2012, UMass men's lacrosse... SCOUTING BUCKNELL David Dickson leads the squad in assists (13) and points (14) as the main distributor among the Bison while Todd Heritage follows with 10 goals and three helpers for 13 points. Chase Bailey (8 g, 4 a, 12 p) and Sean Doyle (7, 3, 10) have also reached double-figures in scoring through four contests. Kyle Feeney has been given the starting nod in net, accumulating 222:26 of a possible 240 minutes between the pipes. Feeney has registered a 7.28 goals against average and .526 save percentage with 30 stops on the year. Sam Grinberg closes out the remaining 17:34, owning a 10.25 goals against average with three let in. Grinberg has turned aside one shot for a .250 save percentage. Bucknell is outscoring its opposition, 41-30 through four games while registering more shots, 166-96 and on-target attempts, 97-61. The Bison are also winning the groundball battle, 122-107 and have a positive margin in caused turnovers, 45-26. Foes have won 49-of-83 faceoffs, as three players have split time at the `X' for Bucknell. Gavin Sullivan is 14-of-32 on faceoff attempts (.438 win percentage) while Ryan Gutowski follows at 12-of-32 (.375) and Eric Monfort has secured eight of his 18 appearances (.444). LAST TIME VS. THE BISON Along with Manny and Smith, Mike Fetterly recorded a four-point game with a goal and three assists, while Art Kell scored a goal and added two assists. Defensively, Tom Celentani led the way with four caused turnovers, while Tim McCormack made six saves in the win. The Minutemen never trailed in the game jumping out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of Smith goals in the initial seven minutes of the first quarter. The Bison rallied back to tie the game 2-2 with 4:41 left, however, neither team was able to score again in the opening stanza. With a man-up advantage to start the second, Colin Fleming cashed in to put UMass up 3-2 in the first nine seconds of play. Bucknell tied the game just over two minutes later as Chase Bailey scored his second of the day converting on the man-up advantage for the Bison. A pair of UMass goals from Manny and Grant Whiteway gave the Minutemen some breathing room going into halftime with a 5-3 lead. Just over two minutes into the third quarter, Smith scored his third of the day to extend the lead to three goals. Back-to-back goals from Steve D'Amario and Fetterly separated by just 52 seconds put UMass up 8-4 with 7:16 left in the third. The Bison cut the lead back to two goals with tallies from Burke and Dickson coming just 33 seconds apart, making it an 8-6 game with six minutes left in the third. A good start to the four quarter with a man-up goal and an even-strength mark from Manny put UMass back up by four, 10-6, with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. Bucknell scored three of the last four goals in the game to give the final score, including a pair by Billy Eisenreich, who finished with three goals and three assists to lead the Bison. The Bison outshot UMass 30-to-28 for the game, but committed 17 to just 13 for the Minutemen. Both teams had a pair of man-up goals with UMass going 2-for-3 and Bucknell 2-for-5. COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM... MOST RECENT: UMASS SUFFERS 15-9 SETBACK AT ALBANY Junior Matt Whippen, sophomore Andrew Sokol and freshman Dan Muller recorded one goal a piece out of the midfielder against the Great Danes while senior K.R. Jurgelevich secured an assist. Goalie Zach Oliveri notched a double-digit saves total for the second consecutive contest with 10 on the day, bringing the redshirt-freshman's season total to 60 through five contests. After 11 minutes of scoreless action to start the contest, Albany found the back of the net first on a strike from John Maloney with 3:59 remaining in the first; however, Kyle Smith equalized the game for the Minutemen only 53 seconds later. Smith controlled play at the left post and rushed in front of the net before depositing a shot into the right side of the goal. The Great Danes (2-2) went back in front at the end of the first with a last-second strike by Lyle Thompson, who backed toward the net before dropping a bounce shot by Oliveri. Following the quarter break, Muller evened the contest at 2-2 with 11:36 to play. Muller received a pass from Jurgelevich 10 yards from the net and fired an attempt by Albany goalie Blaze Riorden for the freshman's third goal of the season. Riorden went on to earn 12 saves on the day for the Great Danes. Albany responded with three consecutive goals spanning 1:48 of play to earn a 5-2 lead with eight minutes remaining in the half. Lyle Thompson and Maloney netted their second tallies of the day to push the Great Danes lead to 4-2 before Thompson secured a hat trick with his third of the contest to close the run. UMass answered with a pair of marks during the final eight minutes of the half to cut the Albany lead to 5-4 with 3:37 left. Mooney wrapped around the goal to earn space for his eighth tally of the year before Sokol deposited an attempt into the right side from five yards away. Using his first mark of the day, Whiteway tied the game at 5-5 with the opening goal of the second half. Whiteway, operating from behind the Albany net, sprinted in front of the cage before firing high into the right corner with 13:40 to play in the third. After the Great Danes notched back-to-back tallies from Maloney and Lyle Thompson following Whiteway's goal, Whippen secured his team-leading 10th goal of the year to bring the Minutemen within 7-6. Whippen took control of the ball 12 yards from the goal and raced toward the right post, running through the Albany defense before settling a low shot into the net. With UMass closing the gap to one goal again, Albany responded with consecutive tallies from Derrick Eccles, Will Fuller and Kevin McNally over a span of 4:04 during the third quarter to extend the home side's advantage to 10-6, ending with 3:24 to play in the stanza. Whiteway added his second mark of the day on a pass from Tyler to pull the Minutemen within three at the 1:25 mark of the third before Mooney notched an unassisted goal with 11:23 remaining in the contest. Ty Thompson recorded Albany's 11th tally of the game before Kyle Smith closed scoring for the Minuteman with 3:40 to play, cutting the deficit to 11-9. Oliveri, redshirt-sophomore midfielder Ryan Izzo and junior midfielder Joe Calvello each recorded five groundballs, while Izzo and senior defender Jake Smith tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with two a piece. Calvello won 12-of-26 faceoffs for UMass. The Great Danes led in shots, 39-35 and groundballs, 38-29. The Minutemen finished 13-of-19 on clear attempts while Albany ended 16-of-19. UMass converted its only extra-man opportunity on Whiteway's second goal of the day with 1:25 remaining in the third. OLIVERI EARNS SECOND CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK LAUREL Oliveri helped UMass to its third win of the season with three saves during the second quarter as the Minutemen built a 6-2 lead on the strength of four consecutive goals. The Ronkonkoma, N.Y., native also stopped a trio of attempts during the initial stanza and added two more in the fourth as UMass fought off Harvard's late rally attempt. Oliveri has the highest save percentage in the CAA through three weeks, notching a .583 mark with 35 stops against 25 goals allowed. Oliveri was also named co-rookie of the week by the conference on Feb. 18, sharing the honor with Hofstra's Sam Llinares, who scored four goals against Sacred Heart. MINUTEMEN WIN DEFENSIVE BATTLE AT HARVARD, 8-6 Freshman midfielder Andrew Sokol netted the eventual game-winner during the third quarter, staking UMass to a 7-3 lead with 12:32 remaining in the stanza. Sokol keyed in from 10 yards away completing the play despite being checked to the turf during his shot. Whippen closed scoring for UMass following a pass from Mooney to extend the advantage back to three in the fourth, 8-5 with 5:36 to play. Senior attack Kyle Smith, senior midfielder K.R. Jurgelevich and sophomore attack Sean Cleary also contributed a goal each to the team effort. The Minutemen defense, led by starters Jake Smith, Ryan Hollenbaugh and Kyle Karaska, forced 17 Harvard turnovers. OLIVERI NETS A PAIR OF WEEKLY HONORS #12 UMASS EARNS COMEBACK WIN OVER #4 UNC Freshman midfielder Andrew Sokol pulled UMass back within one with back-to-back goals to start the fourth, the seventh time on the contest that the Minutemen were within one of tying. Sophomore attack Grant Whiteway added the tying mark, one of his two tallies against the Tar Heels, on an attempt at the crease, completing the play while being knocked to the ground. Junior midfielder Matt Whippen added a goal and an assist while sophomore attack Sean Cleary notched one mark while senior midfielder Bobby Tyler added one helper. UMASS OPENS 2013 WITH 16-9 VICTORY OVER ARMY NEILA NAMES TRIO TO PRESEASON LISTING Manny had a goal during the season-opener against Army and entered 2013 ranking 11th all-time on the UMass scoring list with 167 points on 93 goals and 74 assists. Manny suffered a broken thumb prior to the Minutemen's victory over North Carolina and was unable to compete in the win over the No. 4 nationally ranked Tar Heels. Fleming, who was drafted into Major League Lacrosse with Manny and Smith during the 2013 preseason, finished fourth in goals and points on the Minutemen squad last year, finishing with 26 tallies and eight assists for 34 points. The 6-foot-6 senior from Bryn Mawr, Pa., entered his senior campaign with 56 career points on 42 goals and 14 helpers. In his third year as a starter on defense, Smith began 2013 with 31 starts in 37 total appearances and had scooped up 53 career balls while causing 37 turnovers during his first three seasons with the Minutemen. Through five contests on the current campaign, Smith has nine groundballs and six caused turnovers while helping limit opponents to 10.00 goals per game. WHIPPEN TAKES HOME CAA, UMASS LAURELS Whippen proved instrumental in the Sunday victory, tying with teammate Andrew Sokol with a game-high six points. Whippen recorded his first collegiate point on a goal during the opening quarter to put UMass in the scoring column and knot the contest at 1-1 with 10:49 remaining. Whippen went on to add a trio of goals during the decisive second and third quarters as the Minutemen built a 13-8 lead entering the final stanza. The Chelmsford, Mass., native then secured the initial tally of the fourth quarter before assisting Kyle Smith on the final goal of the game. Dating back to last season, Whippen was the fourth consecutive UMass men's lacrosse player to receive at least a share of the CAA Player of the Week honor, with now-senior Will Manny taking home the final 2012 season award on April 30. He shares the UMass Co-Athlete of the Week award with men's basketball point guard Chaz Williams. MANNY AMONG NATION'S OFFENSIVE LEADERS MINUTEMEN RECEIVE PRESEASON RECOGNITION During the announcement, the CAA also recognized senior attack Will Manny as the preseason conference player of the year while tabbing Colin Fleming, Ryan Hollenbaugh and Jake Smith to join Manny on the preseason all-CAA listing. Nationally, the Minutemen are featured in each of the major polls, including ranking 12th in the USILA Coaches Ranking and 13th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Top-20. "GARBER'S GORILLAS" EXPLAINED YOUNG GUNS The midfield has spearheaded the offensive charge due in part to the success of junior Matt Whippen, sophomore Andrew Sokol and freshman Dan Muller. Whippen leads the squad with 10 goals, chipping in a trio of assists for 13 points. Sokol is close behind Whippen with 12 points, tallying eight goals and four assists, while Muller broke into the lineup against Army and registered a pair of goals and an assist for three points against the Black Knights. On the attack, sophomore Sean Cleary has established himself as a legitimate scoring threat with four goals so far, recording one each during the opening four contests. YOUNG GUNS II MANNY PLACED ON 2013 TEWAARATON AWARD WATCH LIST UMASS SETS SINGLE-SEASON WINS RECORD The 15 wins on the year also tied for the 15th-most in NCAA history. The all-time NCAA record for wins in a season is 18, accomplished by Duke in 2008. WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE! When playing at Garber Field, the Minutemen have held opponents to fewer than 10 goals in a game during 12 of the previous 13 home contests ending in regulation, with the lone game allowing more than single-digits was UMass' thrilling triple-overtime victory, 11-10 vs. Drexel on April 16, 2011. The last time the Minutemen gave up at least 10 goals against in a regulation contest at home was during the 2012 CAA Tournament Championship Game, an 18-12 victory over Drexel on May 5. Prior to that contest, it had not happened since a 10-9 loss to Towson on April 10, 2010. ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN OVERTIME RESULTS FIRST AND FOREMOST At No. 1 in the April 16 USILA Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the April 16 Media Poll, the UMass men's lacrosse program achieved its highest national ranking ever. Prior to being ranked No. 2 for three weeks (March 27 - April 9), the previous high for a national ranking was No. 3, which the Minutemen did this season, in 2003 and in 2001. UMASS TRIO ONLY GROUP TO REACH 50 POINTS IN NCAA LOCKDOWN DEFENSE Of the top-25 point producers in the country, UMass faced nine of them, holding six in the group to two points or fewer in games against the Minutemen. Bucknell's Billy Eisenrich posted six points on three goals and three assists in the Bison's 12-9 loss to UMass, Joe Resetarits had a trio of goals and an assist in Albany's defeat to the Minutemen and eventual Tewaaraton Award winner Peter Baum had a pair of goals and an assist for No. 9 Colgate during the NCAA Tournament First Round. THE SPECIAL TEAMS IMPACT
Despite the changes to the lineup, the Minutemen transferred this strength into shutting down a potent offense during their 2013 season-opening contest against Army. UMass limited the Black Knights, including two-time USILA All-American Garrett Thul, to just 1-for-5 (20.0 percent) on man-up opportunities as the Minutemen notched a 16-9 victory.
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