University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's Lacrosse Game Notes for Saturday Against Syracuse
April 25, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
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#8 MASSACHUSETTS (10-1, 4-1 ECAC)
vs.
#2 SYRACUSE (9-2)
Game #12 ** Sat. April 28, 2001 ** 1:00 p.m.
Garber Field (5,000) ** Amherst, Mass.
THE ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SYRACUSE
Today's game marks the 27th all-time meeting between the University of Massachusetts and Syracuse University. The Orangemen lead the series 22-4. The first time the two schools met was on April 3, 1976, with UMass winning 20-13. The Minutemen won four of the first six meetings with the Orangemen, but have not defeated them since 1981 in Amherst. Syracuse has won the last 20 straight, including a 17-7 win at the Carrier Dome last season.
THE SCOUTING REPORT ON THE ORANGEMEN
Syracuse enters the game with a 9-2 record and ranked second nationally in the USILA/STX Coaches poll. The Orangemen are coming off a 13-5 victory over Hobart on Tuesday. They opened the season with wins over Colgate (12-5), Virginia (13-7) and Fairfield (13-5) before losing to Johns Hopkins (11-10). Syracuse rebounded with victories over Princeton (14-8) and Brown (15-4) before losing to Loyola (14-13). The Orangemen then defeated Cornell (14-10), Rutgers (13-8) and Pennsylvania (18-6). The Orangemen are led by the play of junior midfielder Josh Coffman, junior defenseman John Glatzel, senior goaltender Rob Mulligan and sophomore attackman Michael Springer.
TURNING (HAT) TRICKS
Nine different Minutemen have registered hat tricks thus far this season. Rich Kunkel (4), Kevin Leveille (3), Marc Morley (3), Don Little (2), Jeremy Guski, Neil Lundberg, John Madigan, Dan Paccione and Alex Racioppi have each had games with three goals or more. Kunkel has scored six goals in a game, and both Little and Leveille have each scored five goals in a game. The Minuteman offense has scored 168 goals through 11 games and are second in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 15.27 goals per game.
THE SPECIAL TEAMS
UMass has been effective in both its extra-man opportunities and man-down situations thus far. The Minutemen have converted on 19 out of 44 (43.2%) extra-man opportunities this season, and have killed off 56 of 65 (86.2%) penalties through 11 games. The Minutemen rank third in the nation in man-up offense and second in the nation in man-down defense.
THE GEORGETOWN GAME
UMass suffered its first loss of the season last Saturday falling to then-No. 8 Georgetown, 13-12, on a last minute goal. The Minutemen trailed by six in the fourth quarter before staging a comeback that tied the game, 12-12, with three minutes to go. John Madigan scored three goals to lead UMass.
CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTION
Two Minutemen have recorded at least one point in every game this season. Kevin Leveille and John Madigan have both managed to pick up a point in all 11 games. Leveille has a 19-game point streak that began last season. The sophomore attackman has recorded at least two points in all but one game this season. Madigan curently has a 12-game point streak and is coming off a season-high three goals scored against Georgetown. Rich Kunkel had his 12-game goal-scoring streak snapped against Georgetown this past Saturday. He was the only Minutemen to have scored a goal in every game this season until the Hoyas held him scoreless.
HEAD COACH GREG CANNELLA
Greg Cannella is in his seventh season as head coach of the Minutemen after serving as an assistant coach at UMass for two years. He recorded his 50th career coaching victory against Harvard on April 18, as UMass defeated the Crimson, 11-5. Cannella has compiled a 50-39 (.562) record in his tenure in Amherst, and led UMass to its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in 1997, advancing to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion Princeton. Cannella graduated from UMass in 1988 where he played under legendary Hall of Fame coach Richard F. Garber.
STEPPING UP THE PRODUCTION
Through 11 games this season a number of Minutemen have already surpassed their previous career highs in points.
* Chris Fiore: (10-7--17) previous high was (3-1--4) in 2000
* Jeremy Guski: (12-10--22) previous high was (9-12--21) in 2000
* Kevin Leveille: (19-15--34) previous high was (10-7--17) in 2000
* Don Little: (19-3--22) previous high was 8 points twice
* Marc Morley: (17-6--23) previous high was (8-10--18) in 2000
* Dan Paccione: (12-3--15) previous high was (6-0--6) in 2000
* Jeff Seals: (8-2--10) previous high was (6-0--6) in 2000
SEALS REACHES CENTURY MARK
Senior Jeff Seals surpassed the century mark in ground balls this past Saturday against Georgetown. The Minuteman's primary face-off man has scooped up 104 ground balls through 11 games and is second in the nation in ground balls per game (9.45). Last season, Seals had 77 ground balls. He has won 151 of 247 (.611) face-offs this season and ranks 10th in nation in winning percentage.
JUMPING THE GUN
UMass has relied on quick starts to get ahead of opponents early in every game. The Minutemen have scored the first goal in all 11 games this season and are outscoring opponents 46 to 14 in the first quarter. They are also outshooting opponents 151 to 77 in the opening quarter.
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW
This is the last of nine home games this season for UMass ... Including the Syracuse game, there are three games remaining on the 2001 regular season schedule ... The Minutemen are ranked 10th in the nation in scoring defense (7.91), fifth in face-off winning percentage (.611) and first in scoring margin (7.36) ... For ticket information or to purchase tickets for the Syracuse game please call the UMass Athletic Ticket Office at (413) 545-0810 ... For the third straight preseason, Face-Off College Lacrosse Yearbook ranked the UMass schedule as one of the toughest in the nation. The Minutemen were tied for the 11th spot with Hobart.
