#13 UMASS (3-1) at RV ALBANY (2-1)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 • 4 p.m.
John Fallon Field (2,000) • Albany, N.Y.
Radio: WMUA 91.1 FM
Live Audio & Stats: UMassAthletics.com

#13 UMass Lacrosse Looks For Third Straight Win, Tuesday At Albany
• Coming off an impressive 7-3 win over No. 11 Harvard on Saturday, the 13th ranked UMass men's lacrosse team looks to continue the momentum on Tuesday at Albany. Opening faceoff is set for 4 p.m. The Minutemen are now 3-1 on the season while the Great Danes stand at 2-1 after a 15-12 win over Delaware on Friday. The all-time series is tied at four including five straight one-goal games. Tuesday's contest will be broadcast on 91.1 WMUA with a listen live link provided on UMassAthletics.com. Live stats will also be available.

• The win over the Crimson pushed UMass to 13th in the USILA Coaches poll released on Monday. UMass is also No. 13 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Minutemen have their highest ranking since being No. 10 to open the 2007 season. UMass opponents continue to be all over the poll: No. 2 Syracuse, No. 11 Georgetown, No. 12 Hofstra, No. 14 Loyola, T-No. 15 St. John's, T-No. 15 Harvard, No. 18 Brown. Also, Hobart, Penn State, Albany and Fairfield are among others receiving votes.

Defense Leads The Way
• Saturday's dominant defensive effort was a balanced overall effort.

• Senior goalie Doc Schneider had 14 saves while only allowing three goals. The three goals allowed was a career-low. His previous low was four set on four occasions, most recently on Feb. 28 vs. Yale.

• Diogo Godoi had a sensational game, finishing with a career-high five groundballs along with two caused turnovers. Ironically, the five groundballs broke his previous high of four set last year vs. Harvard. Fellow close defensemen Greg Anderson and Brennan Mack each had four groundballs, which marked a career-high for Anderson.

• In total, the UMass defense has only given up 26 goals through four games (6.50/game) which is fifth best in the nation. It is also the fewest goals a UMass team has allowed through four games since 2001 (25).

• The three goals were the fewest allowed since Mar. 22, 2005 when the Minutemen topped Sacred Heart, 8-3.

• The defense only gave up nine goals in consecutive games, the lowest total in a two game stretch since 2005 when the Minutemen allowed five to Brown (Mar. 19) and three to Sacred Heart (Mar. 22).

• UMass only allowed one first half goal on Saturday, the lowest in a half since the previous meeting with Harvard (Mar. 8, 2008). In that game, the Minutemen held a 2-1 halftime advantage before falling by an 8-5 final. This year, UMass was up 4-1 after 30 minutes.

Well-Rounded Offense
• The Minutemen have had well balanced scoring all season as 12 different players have scored goals for the nation's ninth leading offense (12.5 goals/game).

• On Saturday at Harvard, the first five goals were scored by five different players -- Bobby Hayes, Jim Connolly, Tim Balise, Rory Pedrick, Art Kell.

• In the 18-6 win over Yale, Ryan Bagnasco and Kell netted their first goals of the season (and the first of Kell's career). The 18 goals were the most scored by the Minutemen since scoring 18 vs. Penn State on Apr. 2, 2005.

• In the 11-10 loss to Hofstra, the seven first-half goals were scored by seven different players. In the second half, Evan Blum, Pedrick and Joe Reale added their second goals of the game.

• In the opening win over Sacred Heart, six players scored two goals in the win as Balise also added two assists for four points. Blum, Connolly and Pedrick each added an assist for three-point games. Hayes and Ryan Marcus also scored twice. It was the first time since April 30, 2005 that UMass had six multi-goal scorers in a game when the Minutemen accomplished the feat in a 14-13 overtime win over Syracuse.

Schneider Earns Second ECAC Defensive Player Of The Week
• Senior goalie Doc Schneider has also earned his second ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honor after 14 saves and just three goals allowed at Harvard. Schneider also earned the honor last week after a great performance against Yale. Schneider is fourth in the NCAA in save percentage with 64.2 and he is fourth in goals against average at 6.30.

Balise Nominated For Lowe's Senior Class Award
• UMass senior captain Tim Balise has been named a candidate for the 2009 Lowe's Senior Class Award. Balise was selected from the pool of NCAA Division I senior lacrosse athletes for his excellence in four areas: the classroom, his character, the community, and the field of competition.

• Balise not only led the Minutemen in scoring with 39 points on 33 goals last season, but also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, ESPN The Magazine All-District First Team, and ECAC All-Conference Second Team. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact on their circle of influence.

Miscellaneous Notes From Harvard Game
• The win at Harvard was the 13th consecutive road win in the all-time series.

• Tim Balise extended his point scoring streak to 11 games, dating the last seven games of last season and the first four of this year.

The Series With Albany
• The all-time series is tied at 4-4 while the Great Danes hold a 2-1 advantage in Albany.

• Last season, the Minutemen finally broke through with a slim 9-8 win after four consecutive one-goal losses.

• The last game at Albany was a thriller as the Minutemen rallied from a 7-0 deficit against the second ranked Great Danes on Mar. 13, 2007. UMass tied the score at 9-9 in the fourth quarter, but Albany's Merrick Thomson scored just 12 seconds into overtime to hand the Minutemen a heartbreaking loss.

• UMass had won the first three meetings from 2001 through 2003 before Albany responded with four consecutive victories.

The Last Meeting: UMass 9, Albany 8
• The UMass men's lacrosse team was finally able to break through against Albany after four consecutive heartbreaking one-goal losses. The Minutemen posted their own pulse-pounding 9-8 victory over Albany on Tuesday afternoon at Garber Field. UMass (2-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the game, then had to withstand Albany scoring the game's final three goals to post their second win of the young season. Albany remains winless at 0-4, just one year after going 15-3 and reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals. Their last three losses have all been by one goal and the first three losses were to top 10 teams.

• Junior Tim Balise (Wilbraham, Mass.) tallied his second hat trick of the season with three goals and added an assist for four points. Freshman Zach Rodgers (Baldwin Harbor, N.Y.) continued to rack up assists with two more, along with his first college goal. UMass' other goals came from Bobby Hayes (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Fred Federico (Madison, Conn.), Evan Blum (Delray Beach, Fla.), Paul Manesis (New Canaan, Conn.) and Brian Danvers (Syosset, N.Y.), who scored his first-career goal in the win.

• UMass' goalie Doc Schneider (Massapequa, N.Y.) was awesome again with 16 saves. He was aided on defense by David Von Voigt (Wading River, N.Y.), who had a career-high six groundballs.

Man Down Defense Dominant
• After holding Harvard to 1-of-6 on man up opportunities on Saturday, the Minutemen now find themselves fifth nationally in man down defense (.824). There is a three way tie for the top spot as three UMass opponents (Harvard, Hofstra, and Syracuse) stand at .857. UMass has only allowed three man up goals all year.

• Last year, the Minutemen man down defense was also fifth in the country (.806).

Timmy and Jimmy Lead The Way
• Seniors Tim Balise and Jim Connolly are forming an impressive duo at attack.

• The two scored four of UMass' seven goals (57%) on Saturday at Harvard just one week after combining for 11 of UMass' 18 goals (61%) vs. Yale.

• They have combined for 20 of the Minutemen's 50 goals on the year (40%). That's only two less than the total number of goals the UMass defense has allowed.

• Balise has 12 points (8g, 4a) on the year while Connolly has 15 (12g, 3a). They are on pace to combine for nearly 100 points on the season (95).

• The last time two Minutemen have combined for 100 points in a season was in 2006 when Sean Morris had 72 and Rory Pedrick added 28.

• The last time two Minutemen have each reached the 50-point plateau was in 2005 when Morris had 69 and Jeff Zywicki added 53.

Schneider A Super Senior
• Senior goalie Doc Schneider enters his senior season as one of the best stoppers in program history. He has been named to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American Team as an honorable mention selection. Schneider was also named to ESPN Quint Kessenich's Preseason Top 5 Goalies.

• Through four games, Schneider is fourth in the nation in GAA (6.30) and also fourth in save percentage (64.2).

• He currently stands in third on the UMass all-time saves list with 591. He passed Tom LoPresti (562) for third with eight saves at Hofstra. Next on the list is No. 2 Don Goldstein (622) from 1976-79. 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 was 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.

Connolly, Doc Collect Honors After Yale Win
• On the heels of the dominating win over Yale, senior attacker Jim Connolly was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week and senior goalie Doc Schneider was the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week. Connolly was also named the Lax News College Beat Player of the Week and the UMass/Dinn Brothers Athlete of the Week.

• Connolly, the senior from North Andover, Mass., scored a career high seven goals in UMass' 18-6 win over Yale on Saturday. Connolly, who finished one shy of the school record, had the most goals by a UMass player since Jeff Zywicki scored seven against Albany in 2003. Connolly had five goals in the first half alone as UMass built a 12-2 halftime lead against a team that had beaten the Minutemen two years in a row.

• Schneider made 14 saves in 54 minutes of action in the win over Yale. Schneider allowed just four goals, equaling the fewest goals he has allowed in a game in his storied career.

Balise Named New England Player Of Week After Sacred Heart Win
• Senior attacker Tim Balise was named the Turfer/New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Player of the Week for the week of February 9-15. The first Turfer/NEILA Coaches' Poll had UMass at No. 2, but the Minutemen fell to No. 3 in the second poll after the loss at Hofstra.

• Balise earns the first Player of the Week award for the regular season after ringing up four points in the Minutemen's season-opening victory over Sacred Heart on Saturday. The senior scored two goals and added two assists in the victory. Balise keyed a 7-0 UMass run in the second half to help the Minutemen pull away from the Pioneers. He factored on two of three goals in the middle of the spurt, assisting on the first and scoring the next two.

UMass-Syracuse Game On CBS College Sports TV
• UMass' home game against Syracuse, being played at McGuirk Stadium, will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports on April 25 at 1:30 p.m.

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 28 of the last 36 games spanning five years, dating back to 2004. UMass finished 3-4 in 2008 after going 4-3 in 2007 and 7-1 in 2006. It won 14 games in a row at home from 2004 through 06.

• 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 52-13 at Garber Field, winning 80 percent of the games at the friendly confines.

Big Winners Over Last 8 Years
• UMass has established itself as one of the top programs in the nation. The Minutemen have the ninth-best mark among all teams in the NCAA since 2001 with an 85-41 record for a 67.5 win percentage mark. That includes five seasons with 12 or more wins including a school record 13 wins in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. The Minutemen were second on the list coming into the 2007 season.

Lucky Number 11
• UMass has won 41 games in a row when scoring 11 or more goals after its 18-6 win over Yale (2/28). Last season, UMass had one game with more than 11 games, a 13-8 win at St. John's. 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 the last four senior classes have 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 had won 29 games in a row when scoring 10 or more goals, but that streak was snapped with a 11-10 loss to Hofstra on Feb. 21. The Minutemen were 29-0 when scoring 10 or more goals over the last six years. Prior to the loss at Hofstra, 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 UMass and Penn State 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.