University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutemen Face Rutgers on Senior Day
May 07, 2004 | Men's Lacrosse
May 7, 2004
Rutgers vs. UMass Game Notes
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Minutemen end season with national television appearance on Senior Day at Garber Field...
? The University of Massachusetts men's lacrosse team concludes its season with a matchup today against No. 11-ranked Rutgers. It is the third of three straight games against teams ranked in the nation's top 11, and the final home game for seven seniors on Greg Cannella's squad. The Minutemen enter the contest on a three-game losing streak for the second time this season, but have won three straight games at Garber Field. With a win today, the Minutemen can finish at least .500 for the fourth straight season and eighth time overall in Cannella's 10 years at the helm. Rutgers enters with an 8-4 mark after a rally last week against Georgetown fell short, 7-6.
A look back at Syracuse...
? Michael Powell closed out his Carrier Dome career with seven points (6 g, 1 a) in leading the Orangemen to a 17-10 victory over Massachusetts in front of 5,698 fans. Powell scored three of his goals in the first quarter in staking the 'Cuse to a 5-2 advantage. The Orangemen led 7-2 when UMass started to claw back, scoring three of the quarter's final four goals to trail 8-5 heading into intermission. However, Syracuse stopped the UMass rally, outscoring the Minutemen 4-1 in the third quarter for a 12-6 cushion entering the fourth quarter. Syracuse took its biggest lead of the game at 14-6, before coasting for a 17-10 victory. UMass was led by a pair of freshmen in Brett Garber and Matt Tundo. Garber tallied a career-best four points, including his first-ever hat trick. Tundo netted his third career hat trick. Chris Doyle notched two goals to run his scoring streak to 18 games, and Sean Morris led UMass with two assists. Bill Schell stopped 12 saves in the cage for the Minutemen. Syracuse outshot the Minutemen, 45-37, and were successful on 23-of-24 clears, compared to UMass' 11-of-15.
Scouting Rutgers...
? After a surprising 2003 season, the Scarlet Knights have continued their strong play and posted an 8-4 record with a No. 11 national ranking, including victories over Syracuse (14-10) and Penn State (10-6), and close losses to Princeton (9-7) and Georgetown (7-6). ECAC Player of the Year candidate Delby Powless leads Rutgers with 35 points (30 g, 5 a), while Leif Blomquist and Tim White each have 31 points respectively. In the cage, the Scarlet Knights have one of the best young goalies in the country in Greg Havalchak. Havalchak has seen all but 16:15 and has a .652 save percentage and a 6.80 GAA. The totals put him second and fourth in the country, respectively.
The series with Rutgers...
? UMass enters today's contest holding a 14-8 all-time advantage over the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers ended an 11-game losing streak to the Minutemen last season with a 12-9 victory at Yurcak Field, in which Rutgers stopped UMass' bid for its third straight ECAC title. The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 9-5 halftime lead, then expanded the lead to 12-6 midway through the fourth quarter. UMass scored the last three goals of the game, but ran out of time, as Rutgers ended the Minutemen's five-game winning streak. UMass, however, would advance to the NCAA Tournament.
At the helm...
? Recognized as one of the nation's top lacrosse coaches, Greg Cannella is in his 10th year at the helm of the University of Massachusetts program. In his first nine years, Cannella has brought his Minutemen to four NCAA Tournaments, won just the fifth tournament game in school history in 2003, captured four New England championships and claimed the 2002 ECACLacrosse title after earning a share of the 2001 crown. Cannella took the reigns of the UMass lacrosse program in the fall of 1994 with a great understanding of the program's storied history. He was a two-time letterwinner under the legendary Dick Garber in the mid-1980s and an assistant coach for two seasons with the Minutemen. He is a 1988 UMass graduate.
Fab Freshmen...
? This year's freshmen class has stepped up its game lately, tallying seven goals in UMass' 17-10 loss to Syracuse. UMass rookies have combined for 49 points (34 g, 15 a). The 49 points is 24.2 percent of all the scoring, the 34 goals is 26.0 percent of the goals and the 15 assists is 21.1 percent of the assists. Matt Tundo's 23 points is more than five of UMass' top 16 career scorers, including No. 4 Mark Millon (19 in 1990) and No. 3 Jim Weller (10 in 1979).
Struggles under the roof...
? Despite all of the success that UMass has endured over the years, one place the Minutemen have struggled is under the roof of Syracuse's Carrier Dome. The Minutemen have posted an all-time mark of 0-13 under the dome following last Saturday's 17-10 defeat. In the 13 losses, UMass has been outscored 205-104 (15.8 to 8.0 per game). Only four of the games have been within five goals, and none in the last five contests in the Carrier Dome.
Power versus the ECAC...
? Heading into Saturday's regular-season finale, the UMass lacrosse team has had a great deal of success against teams from its own league: the ECAC. The Minutemen have posted a 14-4 mark since the start of the 2001 season in league play with the only losses coming to Georgetown (twice), Penn State last season and Rutgers last season. The Minutemen have won or shared the conference title in two of the last four years. Next year, St. Johns, Hobart and Loyola (Md.) will join the ECAC.
Honoring the seniors...
? One of the biggest reasons for UMass' success over the last four years has been the play of this year's senior class. The seven-member class (minus Jeff Zywicki, who will return next season and add Craig French, who will graduate this spring after transferring from Denver) has posted a record of 43-16 (.729 winning percentage), including a 27-6 (.818 winning percentage) mark at Garber Field. During the four years, UMass has outscored its foes 760-504 (12.88 to 8.54 per game).
Home sweet home...
? Its no secret that most of UMass' success has come when playing at Garber Field, posting a 4-2 record at home. Here is a look at UMass' comparison between playing at home (4-2) and on the road or at a neutral site (2-5).
Special dates...
? The Minutemen have an interesting stat to focus on during the upcoming battle with Rutgers. In games played on or within one day of a Minuteman birthday, UMass is 4-0. Greg Scott celebrated his 21st birthday by picking up a ground ball on March 2 (UMass defeated Hartford 13-7), Jack Reid picked up four ground balls on his 20th birthday (a 10-3 win at Stony Brook on March 6), Ryan Connolly scored two goals against Sacred Heart on March 23 (one day after his 22nd birthday) and Gene Tundo had one goal and one assist in a win over Manhattan on April 9 (one day before his 21st birthday). Freshman Matt Carroll celebrated his 19th birthday on Friday, May 7.
Remembering "Soup"...
? Five years ago today (May 8, 1999), the Minuteman lacrosse team laid to rest teammate Eric Sopracasa, after the senior long-stick defenseman was hit in the chest by a ball in practice on May 5. The UMass lacrosse team has honored Sopracasa by wearing the number 43 on its helmets and jerseys and the Eric Sopracasa "Heart and Soul" Award has been founded. Ironically, the Minuteman seniors have 43 career victories under their belts, the most in school history. While the seniors did not play with "Soup", he has been talked about several times in Amherst.
Credit the defense...
? Despite giving up 17 goals last weekend to Syracuse, the UMass defense has been sensational this season, limiting opponents to 8.54 goals per game, despite playing an uptempo style. Over the past four years, UMass has allowed only 23 opponents in 59 games to reach double-figure scoring. Iin those games, UMass is 10-13, including 0-6 this season. However, the Minuteman defense has also held 18 of those 59 foes to six or fewer goals, posting an 18-0 record in those games, including 4-0 this season. In 28 of the 54 quarters (two overtimes) played this season, UMass has held its foes to one or fewer goals. This season, the Minutemen defense has had two scoreless streaks of 40-plus minutes:
* April 9-April 17 - Manhattan (37:42) and Yale (4:25) for a total of 42:07.
* March 23-March 28 - Sacred Heart (33:44) and Hofstra (12:07) for a total of 45:51.
Wearing out the ice machine...
? This will without a doubt go down as one of the most injured teams that head coach Greg Cannella has had at UMass. Five significant players have seen injuries totaling 24 games. Jeff Zywicki, last year's leading scorer, has missed basically the entire season. Sean Morris missed four games with mononucleosis, Matt Garcia missed three games with a sprained ankle, Greg Scott missed three games with a hand injury and Steven Byrnes missed one game with a knee injury.
Player notes...
#1 Brian Jacovina - One of UMass' top freshmen, he has scored five points... tallied goals in two of his last three games and scored a career-high two points against Manhattan.
#2 Bill Schell - Has played every minute but 62:04 in the last 38 games at UMass... ranks eighth on the UMass career saves list with 420, 12 behind Ted Kellerman's (1988-91) 432.
#7 Chris Doyle - Doyle has scored at least two points in seven straight games and scored in 18 straight games... has at least two goals in six of the last seven games and 9 of last 14.
#8 Pat Larmon - Netted first career point (a goal) in win over Manhattan... went to same high school as UMass men's soccer standout freshman goalie, Nick Billman.
#9 Jeff Zywicki - Will seek a medical redshirt after missing all but one quarter of action in the season opener against North Carolina... has 93 career points (59 g, 34 a).
#10 Clay Stabert - Netted first career goal at Penn State, and added an assist in win over Manhattan... marked first time he scored in back-to-back games in his career.
#11 Kevin Glenz - Leads the Minutemen with a career-best 30 points... has 63 career points (36 g, 27 a)... went scoreless against Syracuse; shut out for first time this season.
#12 Greg Scott - Missed three games earlier this year after sustaining an injury in a car accident... also a standout on the UMass football team (107 total yards in '03; safety in '04).
#13 Chris Gervat - Scooped up career-high seven ground balls against Syracuse... has had at least one ground ball in every game this season... only senior starter on defense.
#14 Brett Garber - Named ECAC Rookie of the Week after netting first career hat trick and four points against Syracuse... plays on field named after his grandfather, Dick Garber.
#16 Neil Lundberg - One of two seniors on offense, Lundberg is fourth in scoring with 23 points... has netted a point in seven straight games... needs two goals for 50 in his career.
#18 Jack Reid - One of the top young defenseman in the country... leads UMass with 50 ground balls... usually given task of guarding opponents' top player... 25 gb last five games.
#19 Jamie Yaman - Gives UMass a spark off the bench... has three goals on the year, including tallies in back-to-back games against Penn State and Manhattan.
#21 Matt Tundo - One of the top freshmen in the country... leads ECAC freshmen in scoring... has scored 17 goals in last nine games.
#23 Gene Tundo - Ranks second on the team with 14 assists... was the ECAC co-rookie of the year in 2002... needs two assists for 50 in his career, and has 78 career points.
#25 Sean Morris - Leads the Minutemen with 15 assists, after having only eight all of last season... has 14 assists in the last five games... has 42 career points (19 g, 23 a).
#33 Justin Walker - A senior tri-captain... has played in every game (45) over the last three years... has a career-high nine ground balls.
#34 Matt Garcia - A preseason All-America candidate, Garcia has been hobbled by a sprained ankle... has picked up at least two ground balls in seven straight games.
#36 Andrew Recchione -Has gone the last six games without scoring... scored a career-high two points (1 g, 1 a) against Harvard... started 11 games for the Minutemen.
#37 Steven Byrnes - One of the top, young defenseman in the country, Byrnes is second on the team with 35 ground balls... has 16 ground balls in the last four games.
#38 Aaron Paskalis - Was a starter in the season's first four games, totaling 10 ground balls in that time... has only three ground balls in the last nine games.
#39 Dane Collins - UMass' top face-off man, Collins went 7-of-10 against Syracuse... the two games prior, Collins went 9-of-32... has been over 50.0 percent only five timest this year.
#44 Ryan Connolly - Needs two points to become the seventh member of the 20-point club... has a point in nine straight games... scored five goals the last three games.
