#16/18 UMass Minutemen (6-3, 1-1) at Towson Tigers (2-6, 0-2)
Date, Time	Saturday, April 9, 2011, 1 p.m. ET
Location	Johnny Unitas Stadium | Towson, Md. (Directions)
Tickets	Buy Tickets Online ($8 Adults, $3 Youth)
TV/Radio	No TV  Listen WRNX 100.9 FM (Josh Maurer & Norm Smith)
Online Video	Watch on TowsonTigers.com
Live Stats	Live Stats
Blogs/Twitter	UMass Twitter |  UMass Lacrosse Twitter | JTAM News Blog
Game Notes	UMass PDF Notes | Towson Notes

Game Notes

Complete Release in PDF Format 

#16 UMass Heads To Towson For Saturday CAA Clash
• Coming off a solid 16-9 win at Saint Joseph's last Saturday, the No. 16 UMass men's lacrosse team heads south again to take on Towson in another CAA clash. The Minutemen stand at 6-3 overall, 1-1 in the league with four regular-season games remaining. The Tigers are 2-6 and 0-2 in the CAA, as they play UMBC on Wednesday night.

• Saturday's game will be carried on the UMass Sports Network, airing on WRNX 100.9 FM in Western Mass. "Voice of the Minutemen" Josh Maurer will call the action with former All-American Norm Smith. Live streaming video, audio and stats links will be available on UMassAthletics.com.

• UMass and Towson played twice last season as the Minutemen joined the CAA. The Tigers captured both games with a 10-9 regular-season win at Garber Field on April 10 and a 13-6 decision in the CAA Semifinals on May 5 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

In The Polls
• UMass is ranked 16th in the current USILA Coaches Poll and 18th in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. UMass stood at 14th and 16th, respectively for each of the last two weeks in the polls. The Minutemen had been ranked as high as No. 5 in both polls for the week on March 7. The No. 5 ranking was the highest since also being fifth to end the 2003 regular-season as UMass played in the NCAA Tournament as the 5th-ranked team.

• The following UMass opponents are ranked (USILA/IL): Hofstra (8th/7th), Army (13th/14th), Delaware (17th/16th), Penn State (19th/RV) with Ohio State, Harvard, Hartford and Albany receiving votes.

The Series With Towson
• This will be UMass' first regular-season game at Towson since 1963. The Tigers lead the all-time series 2-1, winning both games last season.

• Prior to last year, long-time top level programs UMass and Towson played just one previous game. The then-Redmen beat Towson State, 7-3, on March 28, 1963 as UMass played a three-game "Southern" trip in Baltimore led by Hall of Fame Coach Dick Garber.

• Last year, then-No. 16 UMass lost its first-ever CAA playoff game, as the Minutemen fell 13-6 at No. 20 Towson on May 5, 2011. Towson went on an 12-2 run from the mid-first quarter through midway through the fourth quarter, spanning about 46 minutes. Christian Pastirik and Matt Hughes each had a hat trick in the run. Carl Iacona and Will Harrington each scored a pair for the Tigers.UMass' goals came from Will Manny, Bobby Hayes, Ryan Liebel, Steve D'Amario, Greg Rushing and Colin Fleming. Rushing ended the bleeding of 7-0 run by the Tigers in the second half, as a scored with 5:10 left in regulation.

• The teams met in the regular-season on April 10, with the Tigers upsetting the then-No. 7 Minutemen, 10-9 on Senior Day at Garber Field. Towson's Carl Iacona scored the game-winning goal with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter while Will Harrington had three goals. For UMass, Anthony Biscardi tallied three goals and goalie Tim McCormack made a career-high 18 saves. That was just the second-ever meeting between the two storied programs. UMass won the first game of the series, the only meeting in Towson, on March 28, 1963, a 7-3 win as part of a Southern trip for Dick Garber's team.

Connections With Towson
• Greg Cannella had never coached against Towson or its head coach Tony Seaman prior to last season's 10-9 Towson win on April 10 at Garber Field. The coaches are connected as Seaman coached at Cannella's high school alma mater Lynbrook from 1972-81. Cannella was a prolific scorer at Lynbrook in the early 1980s, graduating in 1983. The Lynbrook program was started by John Cannella, Greg's father in 1957 and Seaman was just the third coach in its history. Larry Glenz succeed Seaman and coached Greg Cannella as he was named an All-American in 1983 in scoring 103 points as a senior.

• Seaman coached against UMass just once before last year and it came 24 years ago in the NCAA First Round. Seaman won his first NCAA Tournament game as a coach, while at Penn, beating UMass 11-10 on May 13, 1987.

• UMass has just one player from Maryland on its roster in junior starting defenseman Greg Anderson from Ijamsville. Anderson won the C.Markland Kelly Award as the top public school player in Maryland in 2008. The Tigers have two Mass players: freshman Zach Brown from Peabody and Governors Academy and senior Tim Flynn from Cotuit and Barnstable High School.

UMass Men & Women Ranked
• UMass is one of nine schools in the nation to have ranked men's and women's lacrosse teams this week. The UMass men are No. 16 in the USILA Coaches Poll. The women are No. 11 in the deBeer Women's Media Poll as the Minutewomen are 9-2 overall.

• New to the list last week was Penn State, which is now No. 19 in the men's poll and No. 18 in the women's poll.

• Six of the top nine men's team are ranked in the women's poll. Scoring Streaks

• Sophomore Will Manny has scored in all 23 games of his career to mark the longest current streak on UMass. This season, Manny is second on the team in points with 27 on 12 goals and a team-best 15 assists. He ranks 16th in the NCAA in assists per game (1.67 per game).

• In addition to Manny, senior captain Ryan Hantverk has points in all nine games this season. He has 13 goals and five assists for 18 points, fourth on the team.

• Mike Fetterly had points in six games in a row from (2/26-3/29) with four goals and six assists for 10 points in the run.

• The team's leading scorer Art Kell has points in eight of nine games for his team-high 29 points on a team-best 18 goals and 11 assists. Kell has goals in 26 of his last 29 games overall.

• Junior Anthony Biscardi has points in eight of nine games this year. He has multiple points in all eight games he has points this season. Biscardi is third on the team in points with 22 on 15 goals and seven assists. Tough Defense

• UMass has a stout 8.11 GAA in nine games this season, backstopped by junior captain Tim McCormack. The goalie has an 7.96 goals against average and a 55.9 save percentage. He posted a season-best 17 saves, second-most in a game in his career at Harvard (3/29).

• On the close defense, sophomore Jake Smith is 16th in the NCAA in caused turnovers per game with 1.9 (17 in nine games). He also has 14 groundballs.

• Fellow close defenders Tom Celentani and Greg Anderson each have 10 caused turnovers. Celentani has 18 groundballs while Anderson has 13.

• UMass' man-down defense has been strong, allowing just 19.4 percent on the year. Opponents have just six goals on 32 opportunities.

One Of The Final 9 Undefeated
• UMass was one of the final nine unbeaten teams in the NCAA in 2011, before losing to Albany on March 8. UMass' 4-0 start was the best since beginning 2003 at 8-0. As of March 14, there are just four unbeatens: Syracuse, Notre Dame, Hofstra and Yale.

Big Winners For Last 10 Years
• UMass has established itself as one of the top programs in the nation. Since 2001, UMass has the eighth-most wins of any program in college lacrosse with 105 victories, tied with Princeton.

• The Minutemen have the eighth-best win mark among all teams in the NCAA since 2001 with 105-55 record for a 65.6 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.

• Virginia leads the way (130-41, 76.0) in most wins and highest percentage. No. 2 is Duke (128-49, 72.3), Syracuse third at (126-37, 77.3) with No. 4 Johns Hopkins (120-40, 75.0), No. 5 Maryland (118-50, 70.2), No. 6 Cornell (115-42, 73.2), No. 7 is Georgetown (107-45, 70.4) and UMass is tied with No. 8 Princeton (105-49, 68.1). UMass is ahead of Navy (103-56, 64.8) in terms of wins.

Lucky Numbers 10, 11, 13
• UMass has won 73 of its last 74 games when scoring 13 goals (98.6 win percentage), with three wins this season -- all on the road: 16-9 at Saint Joseph's (4/2), 14-6 at Providence (3/15) and 14-10 at Hartford (2/19). UMass was 3-1 last year when tallying 13 or more.

• When scoring 11 goals or more, UMass has won 54 of its last 56 games, a 96.4 win percentage. This season, UMass has four games with 11-plus goals. The Minutemen had at least 11 goals in the first eight games of the 2010 season with a 6-2 record.

• UMass had won 45 games in a row when scoring 11 or more goals until falling at Yale, 13-12 on March 5, 2010. The Minutemen also lost to Harvard, 14-13 last season on March 13, marking the most goals UMass scored in a loss since a 16-15 defeat to Delaware on April 15, 1995. UMass had won 67 games in a row when scoring 13 or more goals.

• UMass is 44-3 in its last 47 games when scoring double-figures, (93.6 win percentage) with wins over Hartford, Ohio State, Providence and Saint Joseph's this year after posting an mark 8-2 last year. 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, 2009. The Minutemen were 29-0 when scoring 10 or more goals from 2004-09. Prior to the loss at Hofstra, the last loss when scoring 10 goals came on May 1, 2004, a 17-10 loss at Syracuse.).

Among the National, CAA Leaders
• In the statistical categories as of April 4, UMass has several players listed among the top 50.

• Sophomore attacker Will Manny is 16th in the NCAA and second in the CAA assists per game with 1.67 with 15 on the season. Junior attacker Art Kell is 43rd in assists per game (1.22) nationally and 7th in the CAA.

• Kell is 22nd in points per game in the NCAA and second in the CAA (3.22) with 29 points in nine games while Manny is 34th in points per game nationally and fourth in the league (3.0) with 27 points.

• Kell's six assists vs. Hartford (2/19), rank as the most by a player in the nation this season.

• Kell is 38th in the NCAA and third in the CAA goals per game with 2.0 (18 in nine games.

• Goalie Tim McCormack is ranked 19th nationally and third in the CAA in goals against average with a 7.96 mark.

• Sophomore Jake Smith is 16th in caused turnovers per game with 1.89. He posted a career-high five in the win over No. 20 Brown (3/5) and four CTs in the win over No. 13 Ohio State (2/26).

• As a team, UMass is seventh in man-down defense at 80.6. UMass is seventh in fewest turnovers per game (14.33).

Kell Honored After 8-Point Game
• Junior attacker Art Kell was named the CAA Lacrosse Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 21 and the New England Lacrosse Player of the Week after an 8-point game against Hartford (2/19).

• Kell recorded the eight points in UMass' 14-10 win over Hartford Saturday, marking the most points by a UMass player since Sean Morris' total of eight against Hofstra (2/26/2006). The junior scored two points and dished out a career-best six assists. All six of Kell's assists came in the second half when the Minutemen outscored Hartford 9-3. It was the most assists by a UMass player since Kevin Leveille had six against Albany (3/18/2002).

Trio Of Captains
• The 2011 edition of the Minutemen will have three captains with seniors Ryan Hantverk and Casey Rahn along with redshirt-junior Tim McCormack handling the honors.

• Hantverk is a returning starting midfielder, who tallied 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists last season. Rahn is the team's top long-stick defensive midfielder. he scooped 32 groundballs and caused nine turnovers a season ago.

• McCormack returns for his second season as the backtop after starting all 14 games last season. He posted a 10.13 goals against average and a 52.3 save percentage with the 8-6 record.

UMass On TV Six Times
• The UMass men's lacrosse team will play five televised games as part of the school's agreement with CBS 3 Now in Springfield, Mass. The games will be shown throughout Western Mass., on Comcast Channel 293, Charter Channel 230 and on the UMass campus on Channel 79. UMass will handle all of the production in-house for the telecasts. UMass will play two more games on CBS 3 Now April 16 vs. Drexel at 1 p.m., and April 29 vs. Delaware on April 29 at 7 p.m.

• All six home games will be available online as part of UMass All-Access. Select road games could also be shown on UMass All-Access. Those will be determined closer to the game dates.

• In addition to the five games on CBS 3 Now, UMass will play on ESPNU against Hofstra on April 23 as part of the ESPNU Warrior Classic at Renstchler Field, starting at 3 p.m.

UMass Lax Joins Athletes For America
The UMass men's lacrosse team joined forces with Athletes For America last October as the Minutemen players and coaches were all part of a two and a half hour CPR training session hosted by the campus EMTs. The men's lacrosse team is the first UMass team to become part of the AFA, and the athletic department is currently in discussions about how to include the remaining 550 student-athletes into the program.