University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's Lacrosse Hosts No. 16 UMBC
April 06, 2000 | Men's Lacrosse
April 6, 2000
AMHERST, Mass. - This will be the first ever meeting between the Minutemen and the Retrievers on the lacrosse field. The teams will meet every season from now on, as both are members of the new ECAC Lacrosse League.
No. 20 UMass (4-3, 1-2 ECAC)
vs.
No. 16 UMBC (3-5, 2-2 ECAC)
April 8, 2000 - 1:00 p.m.
Garber Field - Amherst, Mass.
KUNKEL COMING OFF BIG WEEK: Junior attackman Rich Kunkel (Centereach, N.Y.) had a pair of outstanding games last week against Boston College and Penn State. Kunkel scored six goals against the Eagles, with four of them coming during a 7-0 UMass run in the first 7:11 of the game. His six goals against Boston College tied the career-high he set against Fairfield last year, and are the most by a Minutemen in a single game this season. Kunkel came back to record two goals and two assists against Penn State last Saturday. He also had a big games against Vermont (three goals and one assist), Hofstra (two goals and one assist) and Stony Brook (two goals and one assist). Kunkel currently leads the team in scoring with 20 points on 15 goals and five assists.
MADIGAN AMONG TOP SCORERS: Junior attackman John Madigan (Latham, N.Y.) has turned in some outstanding performances in UMass' last three contests. Last week he scored a pair of goals at Penn State, while recording a career-best six points on three goals and three assists at Boston College. In the previous game at Butler, Madigan scored three goals in the 12-9 win. Following those performances, he has now scored three goals in a game six times during his UMass career. Heading into the UMBC game, Madigan ranks second on the team lead in both goals scored (12) and points (16). A year ago, Madigan led UMass in scoring with 31 points, while ranking second in goals with 20. He now has 43 goals and 17 assists for 60 points during his UMass career, and is the top active career scorer on the team.
CAMPY STRONG IN THE CAGE: Junior goaltender Chris Campolettano (Massapequa, N.Y.) is having another impressive season in his second year as the starter. Campolettano has played all but 28 minutes in goal this year, making 76 saves while allowing only 48 goals. His top games so far this season have come against Butler and Navy, with a season-high 15 saves in each contest. Campolettano also had 14 saves against Penn State last week. He currently owns a goals against average of 7.35 on the season, with a save percentage of 61.3. Last season, Campolettano finished the year with the sixth best goals against average in the country (8.04), while ranking 12th in save percentage (.612).
SEALS DOMINANT ON FACEOFFS: Junior midfielder Jeff Seals (Long Valley, N.J.), who has taken the majority of the faceoffs for the Minutemen, is off to an outstanding start through the first six games of the season. Seals has won 88 of the 136 faceoffs he has taken on the year, good for a percentage of .647. He was particularly dominant during UMass' recent three-game winning streak, winning 16 of 22 faceoffs against Vermont, 17 of 24 against Butler and 14 of 19 at Boston College. Seals, who missed the 1999 season as a medical redshirt, has now won 143 of 235 faceoffs (.609) during his UMass career.
TOUGH AGAIN: For the second straight season, Face-Off College Lacrosse Yearbook has ranked the UMass schedule as one of the toughest in the nation. The Minutemen face two 1999 final four squads (Syracuse, Georgetown) and six NCAA tournament participants this spring.
MORLEY STAYS HOT: Sophomore midfielder Marc Morley (Canton, N.Y.) has emerged into one of the top scorers for the Minutemen over the last few weeks. His top game so far this year came against Butler, when he totaled six points on three goals and three assists, to set career-highs for goals, assists and points. Morley also had a big day at Penn State, totaling a goal and two assists for the Minutemen. In addition, Morley recorded a goal and an assist in the wins over both Vermont and Boston College. Over the last four games, he has now totaled 13 points on six goals and seven assists. For the season, Morley ranks third on the team in scoring with 15 points. He leads the team in assists with eight, while standing third in goals scored with seven.
MCFARLAND HAVING SOLID SEASON: Sophomore defender Matt McFarland (Garden City, N.Y.) is making himself known as one of the top defensive players in the nation. McFarland often checks the opposing team's top offensive threat, and is a big reason why UMass has a team goals against average of 7.29 on the year. He is also tied for the team lead in ground balls, with 40 through the first seven games of the season. Last summer, McFarland played on the United States Under-19 lacrosse team, which won the world championship in Australia last year. He is the first Minuteman ever play on the national under-19 team.
NO LONGER IN A LEAGUE OF IT'S OWN: After 46 years playing as an Independent, the Minutemen have joined the newly-formed ECAC Lacrosse League. Other founding members of the seven-team league are Georgetown, Navy, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), Penn State, Rutgers and Stony Brook. The league champion will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
GOOD START FOR GUSKI: Junior midfielder Jeremy Guski (Mahopac, N.Y.) opened the season with a solid game against Hofstra and followed it up with another impressive outing versus Stony Brook. The midfielder scored a goal and an assist versus Hofstra, and then Guski recorded a pair of goals and a pair of assists in the 17-4 win over Stony Brook. He also netted a goal and an assist in the win over Vermont, then tallied a goal and an assist against Butler. Guski currently ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points on five goals and six assists.
THREE'S COMPANY: During the victory over Butler, both Marc Morley and John Madigan scored three goals for the Minutemen. That marked the first time since last year's season opening win over Holy Cross that more than one UMass player has scored three goals in a single game. In that 19-4 victory over Holy Cross last season, Jeremy Guski, Rich Kunkel and Madigan found the net three times each.
DOUBLE DIGIT MAGIC: The double-digit mark has been a key one for the Minutemen on both offense and defense since the beginning of the 1990 season. UMass has a 67-13 (.838) record in games when it holds the opponent under 10 goals since 1990. The Minutemen also have a 68-15 record (.819) in games where they score 10 or more goals.
PENN STATE RECAP: Chris Campolettano made 14 saves, but it was not enough as the 16th-ranked Minutemen suffered an 11-8 loss at Penn State on Apr. 1. The teams traded goals throughout much of the first half, before Penn State scored the final two goals to take a 5-3 lead into the break. The Nittany Lions then outscored the Minutemen 5-1 during the third period, increasing its lead to 10-4. UMass came back in the fourth quarter to make the game close, but the comeback came up short. Rich Kunkel led the Minutemen with two goals and an assist on the afternoon, while John Madigan scored two goals and Marc Morley had a goal and two assists. Goaltender Chris Garrity made 22 saves for Penn State, while Will Driscoll and Don Mayerhofer both totaled two goals and an assist.
RACKING UP THE HONORS: Three UMass players were named preseason honorable mention All-Americans by Face-Off Lacrosse Yearbook. Junior goaltender Chris Campolettano, junior midfielder Jeremy Guski and sophomore defender Matt McFarland.
HAT TRICK: Sophomore attackman Dan Paccione (Amityville, N.Y.) netted four goals in UMass' ECAC Lacrosse League opener versus Stony Brook. Paccione helped the Minutemen to a 17-4 win over the Seawolves. All four of his goals came in the second half.
MINUTEMEN AMONG NCAA STAT LEADERS: Two UMass players are currently ranked among the best in the nation in individual statistical categories, through games of April 2. Junior Jeff Seals stands sixth in face-off winning percentage (64.7), while junior Chris Campolettano ranks seventh in the nation in goals against average (7.35) and 12th in save percentage (61.3). As a team, UMass stands fourth nationally in scoring defense (7.29 goals allowed per game) and sixth in face-off winning percentage (61.3).
MULTIPLE SCORERS: Six UMass players scored two or more goals in the 17-4 win over Stony Brook. Sophomore Don Little (Clifton Park, N.Y.) was the first to do it, followed by Rich Kunkel, Dan Paccione, Jeremy Guski, John Madigan and junior Kevin Dell (Huntington Station, N.Y.). Paccione led the way with four goals, the other five Minutemen all scored two goals a piece.
SIBLING RIVALRIES: The Minutemen have three pairs of brothers on the 2000 squad. Identical twin juniors Keith and Chris Gabrielli (Farmingdale, N.Y.) return for their third season, senior John Hutchen (Lake Forest, Ill.) joins his sophomore brother Paul this year and junior Rich Kunkel is joined by his freshman brother Derek (Centereach, N.Y.).
PLAYMAKER: Junior Kevin Dell played a key role in the offense as UMass netted 14 goals against Vermont. Dell made a number of solid feeds, including three which resulted in goals. Dell finished the game with a goal and three assists. He also had a big game earlier in the season against Stony Brook with two goals and one assist. Dell is currently tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points on five goals and six assists.
SCOUTING UMBC: The Retrievers enter today's game ranked 16th in the country, with an overall record of 3-5 and a 2-2 mark in the ECAC. UMBC is coming off an 8-7 loss at Bucknell on Wednesday, in which the Bison scored the winning goal with only 4.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Senior attackman Dan Marohl leads the team in scoring with 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists, while senior attackman Jeff Ratcliffe has totaled 21 points on a team-best 16 goals and five assists. Junior Steve Cusa has started every game in goal for the Retrievers this season, and has posted a 9.44 goals against average with a 53.5 save percentage.
BALANCED SCORING: Eleven different Minutemen combined to score 14 goals against Vermont. The only UMass player to net more than one goal in the contest was Rich Kunkel, who scored three. The other ten goal scorers for UMass were Kevin Dell, Keith Gabrielli, Jeremy Guski, Mike Janowicz (Upper Arlington, Ohio), Don Little, John Madigan, Marc Morley, Alex Racioppi (Winchester, Mass.), Jeff Seals, Dusty Smith (West Chester, Pa.) and Mike Young (Devon, Pa.).
HEAD COACH GREG CANNELLA: UMass head coach Greg Cannella is in his sixth season at the helm of the Minuteman lacrosse program. Cannella has recorded a 38-32 record in his tenure and led UMass to its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in 1997, advancing to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion Princeton. Prior to being named head coach, Cannella served as an assistant to Ted Garber at UMass for two seasons. Cannella also played at UMass in 1986 and 1987 for Hall of Famer Dick Garber.
SHORT STICKS: Junior Rich Kunkel finished 1999 with the best shooting percentage on the team. Kunkel had a team-leading 22 goals on 56 shots (39.3). He has done an even better job this season, scoring 15 goals on only 36 shots (41.7) ... UMass has had just six losing seasons in the 46-year history of the program. Three of those seasons came in the first 11 years after the sport was granted varsity status in 1954.
ECAC LACROSSE LEAGUE STANDINGS & RECENT SCHEDULE
| ECAC | OVERALL | |||||||||
| W | L | Win % | W | L | Win % | GF | GA | Home | Away | |
| Georgetown | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 7 | 1 | .875 | 117 | 67 | 6-0 | 1-1 |
| Navy | 4 | 1 | .800 | 5 | 2 | .714 | 77 | 45 | 2-0 | 2-2 |
| UMBC | 2 | 2 | .500 | 3 | 5 | .375 | 80 | 74 | 2-1 | 1-4 |
| UMass | 1 | 2 | .333 | 4 | 3 | .571 | 78 | 51 | 1-1 | 3-1 |
| Penn State | 1 | 2 | .333 | 4 | 4 | .500 | 78 | 82 | 1-1 | 3-3 |
| Stony Brook | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 | 6 | .250 | 57 | 94 | 1-5 | 1-1 |
| Rutgers | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 5 | .167 | 48 | 79 | 1-3 | 0-2 |
ECAC Player of the Week: Scott Urick, Georgetown, Senior, Attack
Urick scored four goals in the Hoyas' 14-10 victory over Navy.
April 1
Georgetown 14, Navy 10 *
Penn State 11, UMass 8 *
Stony Brook 11, Radford 7
UMBC 11, Rutgers 3 *
April 5
Stony Brook 12 ,Providence 5
Bucknell 8, UMBC 7
April 8
Georgetown at Stony Brook * (1:00 p.m.)
Navy at Maryland (1:00 p.m.)
Penn State at Hobart (1:00 p.m.)
Rutgers at Yale (1:00 p.m.)
UMBC at UMass * (1:00 p.m.)
April 11
Stony Brook at Rutgers (7:30 p.m.)
STX / USILA Top 20 Poll (April 3)
| No. | Team | Record | Points | Previous |
| 1. | Syracuse (10) | 6-0 | 200 | 1 |
| 2. | Virginia | 5-1 | 189 | 2 |
| 3. | Loyola | 7-0 | 181 | 3 |
| 4. | Princeton | 4-1 | 168 | 4 |
| 5. | Duke | 7-2 | 161 | 5 |
| 6. | Georgetown | 7-1 | 149 | 7 |
| 7. | Maryland | 6-2 | 137 | 6 |
| 8. | Johns Hopkins | 2-3 | 130 | 10 |
| 9. | Cornell | 5-1 | 111 | 11 |
| 10. | North Carolina | 6-3 | 109 | 8 |
| 11. | Navy | 6-2 | 107 | 9 |
| 12. | Hofstra | 3-3 | 91 | 12 |
| 13. | Harvard | 5-1 | 65 | 13 |
| 14. | Notre Dame | 4-3 | 59 | 15 |
| 15. | Brown | 3-3 | 57 | 14 |
| 16. | UMBC | 3-4 | 56 | 19 |
| 17. | Army | 4-3 | 30 | NR |
| 18. | Hobart | 3-3 | 21 | NR |
| Penn State | 4-4 | 21 | NR | |
| 20. | UMass | 4-3 | 16 | 16 |
Others receiving votes (in order): Bucknell, Villanova, Delaware, Lehigh, Towson, Yale, Butler.
UMass by the Record
| Overall | 4-3 |
| Home | 1-1 |
| Away | 3-1 |
| Neutral | 0-1 |
| vs. ECAC teams | 1-2 |
| vs. Top 10 opponents | 0-1 |
| February | 0-1 |
| March | 4-1 |
| April | 0-1 |
| May | 0-0 |
| Overtime games | 0-0 |
| One-goal games | 0-0 |
| Games decided by fewer than three goals | 0-0 |
| Games decided by fewer than five goals | 1-3 |
| Games decided by five or more goals | 3-0 |
| After a UMass win | 2-2 |
| After a UMass loss | 2-0 |
| UMass scores first | 3-2 |
| OPP scores first | 1-1 |
| UMass scores 10+ goals | 4-0 |
| UMass scores nine or fewer goals | 0-3 |
| OPP scores 10+ goals | 0-2 |
| OPP scores nine or fewer goals | 4-1 |
| UMass outshoots OPP | 4-2 |
| OPP outshoots UMass | 0-1 |
| Shots are even | 0-0 |
| UMass takes... | |
| 0-19 shots | 0-0 |
| 20-29 shots | 0-1 |
| 30-39 shots | 0-1 |
| 40-49 shots | 2-0 |
| 50+ | 2-0 |
| OPP takes... | |
| 0-19 shots | 0-0 |
| 20-29 shots | 2-2 |
| 30-39 shots | 0-0 |
| 40-49 shots | 2-2 |
| 50+ | 0-0 |
| UMass leads after 1st quarter | 2-1 |
| UMass trails after 1st quarter | 0-2 |
| UMass is tied after 1st quarter | 2-0 |
| UMass leads after 2nd quarter | 4-0 |
| UMass trails after 2nd quarter | 0-1 |
| UMass is tied after 2nd quarter | 0-2 |
| UMass leads after 3rd quarter | 4-0 |
| UMass trails after 3rd quarter | 0-3 |
| UMass is tied after 3rd quarter | 0-0 |
