University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Travels To Fairfield For Tuesday ECAC Game
April 23, 2007 | Men's Lacrosse
April 23, 2007
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UMASS (5-6, 3-2) at FAIRFIELD (5-5, 1-4)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 • 4 p.m.
Lessing Field (500/Grass)
Fairfield, Conn.
Gametracker: UMassAthletics.com
Live Streaming Audio: UMassAthletics.com
UMass Travels To Fairfield For Tuesday ECAC Game
• Coming off a heartbreaking 8-7 loss to No. 6 Georgetown on Saturday, UMass will continue its ECAC schedule with a mid-week game at Fairfield this Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. The game will be played at the Stags' grass-surface facility Lessing Field. Live streaming audio of the game will be available on UMassAthletics.com with Bob Behler and Jason Yellin on the call. Gametracker will also be available.
• The conference game comes prior to UMass' nationally-televised game on ESPNU against No. 12 Syracuse on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Minutemen will honor its senior class of Matt Carroll, Brett Garber, Efosa Guobadia, Brian Jacovina, Pat Larmon, Sam Moody, Andrew Recchione, Denis Whelan and Dan Whipple prior to the face-off with the Orange, who are battling for their NCAA Tournament life.
• UMass stands at 5-6 overall, 3-2 in the ECAC. Of the six losses this season, five have come by one or two goals including a 10-9 overtime defeat at Albany, which was ranked No. 2 last week. Fairfield is 5-5 overall and 1-4 in the league. The Stags, who were ranked as high as No. 12 this season (back on mid-March) have lost five games in a row after a 19-2 defeat at Loyola last Saturday.
• Tuesday's game pits UMass alums on the sidelines as 1988 grad Greg Cannella leads his Minutemen against 1985 grad Ted Spencer. Spencer was a long-pole defensemen for the Minutemen playing for the legendary Dick Garber.
• The game between Fairfield and UMass marks the second game between the teams as fellow members of the ECAC. The Stags joined the more-regionally-correct league in 2006 after playing in the Great Western Lacrosse League, earning the league's NCAA automatic bid in 2005.
• Last season, UMass staged a miracle comeback against the Stags, with three goals in the final 1:03 of regulation to prevent Fairfield from the upset win at Garber Field. Jake Deane, Sean Morris and Brian Jacovina scored three goals in a 34-second span to cap the miraculous finish.
• Prior to last season, UMass and Fairfield had not played since a 2002 NCAA First Round match-up in Providence which the Minutemen captured 17-4. The teams played three regular-season games from 1997-99 with UMass winning all three by a combined score of 50-13.
Last Time Out...
• The UMass men's lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal deficit in the third quarter to tie the game at 6-6, but were done in by a pair of Craig Dowd extra-man goals late, in an 8-7 loss to No. 6 Georgetown last Saturday. With the win, the Hoyas (9-2, 5-0 ECAC) clinch at least a share of the ECAC title. UMass fell to 5-6, 3-2 in the ECAC.
• After Georgetown had built a 6-2 lead just 44 seconds into the second half, UMass went on a tear to tie the game and excite the Garber Field faithful. Senior captain Brett Garber tallied twice in the run including the goal to make it 6-6 with 7:33 left in regulation. He fired home a feed from fellow senior captain Brian Jacovina, who set up the final three goals in the run.
• Jacovina previously connected with senior Andrew Recchione to make it 6-5 with 12:43 left regulation. Prior to that Garber scored his first of the game with 12:12 left in the third as the Hoyas still led 6-4. Sophomore Evan Blum started the run with a goal 1:58 into the second half.
The Series With Fairfield
• UMass and Fairfield play for the sixth time on Tuesday as UMass alums face-off with class of 1988 Greg Cannella leading the Minutemen against class of 1985 Ted Spencer leading the Stags. UMass has won all five of the previous games including last season's 7-6 thriller at Garber Field. Prior to that, last meeting a 2002 NCAA First Round match-up in Providence, 17-4.
• UMass has outscored Fairfield 76-23 in the five games for a 15-5 average score.
Last Year's Game: No. 11 UMass 7, Fairfield 6
AMHERST, Mass. - No. 11 UMass scored three goals in the final 1:03 -- all in a 29-second span - to comeback and capture a dramatic 7-6 victory over Fairfield at Garber Field. Senior captain Jake Deane scored the game-winning goal with 34 seconds left after fellow senior Sean Morris had tied the game with 49 seconds left. Junior Brian Jacovina began the run scoring off a free clear with 1:03 remaining.
The comeback was improbable as UMass trailed the entire game, gaining its first and only lead with 34 seconds left in regulation. Despite outshooting the Stags all game, (UMass finished with a startling 47-19 advantage), Fairfield goalie Mike Kruger was sensational finishing with 16 saves.
UMass stood at 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the ECAC while Fairfield fell to 5-7 and 3-3 in the league.
Freshman goalie Doc Schneider -- playing on his 19th birthday -- made his eighth and final save as the final horn sounded, his fifth save in the fourth quarter.
Deane scored the game-winner off a pass from sophomore Rory Pedrick. The long-pole beat Kruger to the short left side for the game-winner, the first of his career and just his fifth-career goal. The play began with Deane winning the face-off as Jack Reid scooped the groundball and set the play in motion.
Morris tied the game at 6-6 with 49 seconds left as he took a feed from Jacovina and ripped a shot from the right side after Deane won the face-off.
The run began with Jacovina scoring on a free clear from midfield as he took the ball and scored on the high left side to make it 6-5 Fairfield with 1:03 remaining.
UMass' defense kept them in the game led by senior captain Reid and junior Dan Whipple. The duo harassed Fairfield all afternoon as the combined to hold Greg Downing without a goal after he entered the game fourth in the nation in goals per game with 2.3 per game.
Connolly, Whipple, Hayes Earn ECAC Honors
• Three UMass men's lacrosse players earned weekly honors from the ECAC after the Minutemen's 17-12 win at Hobart on April 14. Sophomore Jim Connolly was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week after he scored five goals. Senior Dan Whipple was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week as he gained a career-best eight groundballs. Freshman Bobby Hayes was named to the ECAC Honor Roll after three points and 14 face-off wins.
Connolly On A Roll
• Sophomore Jim Connolly has found his scoring touch of late. He has tallied nine goals in the last three games including a career-high tying five at Hobart (4/14). In the previous game, the had three goals and two assist against St. John's (4/7) giving him 10 points in a two-game span. Connolly was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week after the Hobart showing and named to the ECAC Honor Roll after St. John's.
• Connolly has points in 10 of 11 games this season, only being blanked by Brown (3/17). In his 29 career college games, Connolly has points in 22 of them.
• With his 28 points this season, he has surpassed his freshman season total of 26 points (in 18 games).
• Connolly leads UMass in points with 28 and is second to Brett Garber in goals with 21. He ranks sixth in the ECAC in goals and goals per game (1.9). He also ranks sixth in total points and eighth in points per game at 2.5.
• This season, Connolly has seven multi-point games, after having seven as a freshman.
Garber Streaking
• Senior captain Brett Garber has been hot over the last eight games. Since a slow start where he had just four points in his first three games, he has 23 points in the last eight games, 2.9 per game. He ranks for fifth in ECAC in goals per game with 2.0.
• Garber is second on UMass in scoring with 27 points and leads with a team-high 22 goals along with five assists. He has four hat tricks this season, all in the last eight games. He posted them against Albany (3/13), a career-high tying four goals vs. Sacred Heart (3/20), Loyola (3/24), and against St. John's (4/7). Over his last eight games, Garber has 19 goals.
• Garber took just two shots against Penn State, but he made the second one count as he scored the game-winner 59 seconds into overtime as he lifted UMass to the 6-5 victory. The goal kept Garber's scoring streak intact as he is the only player on the UMass roster to have points in all nine games this season after his four-point game against St. John's. Garber scored in the NCAA Final last season as has a 10-game point-scoring streak overall.
• Garber scored his 50th career goals in the win over Sacred Heart, when he tied his single-game career high with four goals on March 20.
• Overall, Garber has 61 career goals and 85 points, the most of any active Minutemen.
• Garber leads UMass and the ECAC in man-up goals with five this season.
Balise Blazing
• Sophomore Tim Balise has been a key contributor as a sophomore in 2007. He is third on the team in points with 21 including 14 goals. He has five multi-goal games and six multi-point games in his second season. He has points in 10 of 11 games this season after just two points all of last year.
• He was the only other Minutemen to have points in every game this season, but he was blanked against Penn State. Balise had two goals against Loyola for his third multi-goal game in four contests (from March 13-24). Prior to his scoreless game versus Penn State, Balise was hot in four games, totalling eight goals and 11 points after having four in his first three games.
Schneider Saving the Day
• Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List goalie Doc Schneider has six games with 12 or more saves this season and 17 in his 29 career contests since earning the starting nod as a freshman in 2006. Schneider continues to rank 16th in the nation in goals against average (8.02) and 17th in save percentage (57.5).
• With his 11 saves against Georgetown, he moved to 10th in career saves at UMass with 339. He passed Gerry Moreau (335), who played from 1981-85. Next on the list is Jack Rutledge (345), who played in 1973-74. No. 8 on the list is Ted Kellerman (432), who played from 1988-91.
• Schneider was named the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week on April 2 after he made a season-high 15 saves in UMass' 6-5 overtime win over Penn State. He had a 75-percent save percentage in the game. After his 14-save game against St. John's, Schneider had 29 saves in two games and allowed just 12 goals in that pair. Over two games on March 31-April 7, Schneider had a 70.7 save percentage.
Defense Stands Tall
• UMass' defense has been strong early on this season. The Minutemen have a strong 7.99 goals against average which ranks 17th in the nation. Goalie Doc Schneider has at least 12 saves in six different games including a season-best 15 stops vs. Penn State (3/31) and has a save percentage of 57.5.
• The defense has received great effort from senior captain Dan Whipple, who leads the team with 42 groundballs in addition to 10 caused turnovers. Whipple had his 100th career groundball at Loyola (3/24). He tied his career-high for groundballs in a game with eight at Hobart (4/14).
• A trio of juniors have been stout on the close defense with Brian Danvers, Sean Krygier and David Von Voigt. Von Voigt leads the team in caused turnovers with 15 along with 14 groundballs. Krygier has 19 GBs and six CTs while Danvers has 20 groundballs and 14 caused turnovers. Joining them with added playing time has been redshirt freshman Jordan Hendry.
Lucky Number 11 & 10
• UMass has won 38 games in a row when scoring 11 or more goals. The Minutemen have four wins this season 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 five years -- meaning this year's senior class has 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 is also 4-0 this season when scoring 10 goals this season and 26-0 over the past three years when reaching double-figures. The last loss when scoring 10 goals came on May 1, 2004, a 17-10 loss at Syracuse.
Big Winners Over Last Seven Years
• With the 13-5 record last season and the 5-6 record this year, UMass is now 75-30 over the last seven seasons for a 71.4 win percentage, which is the seventh-best in college lacrosse. The Minutemen were second coming into the season prior to this season's tough start. Johns Hopkins, which has won 80.4 percent of its games with a 78-19 record is first followed by. Georgetown is second at 75.5 (74-24) and Virginia (73.8, 76-27).
Cannella Among Active Win Leaders
• Now in his 13th season at UMass, Greg Cannella is among the winningest active coaches in college lacrosse. He currently ranks eight among all active Division I leaders with a 62.8 career win percentage. He is 115-68 overall, winning his 100th career game last season against Harvard on March 10, 2006.
Gorillas at Home
• Since the 1960s, UMass has been known as the Garber Gorilla's in honor of head coach Dick Garber and his first big time recruit from New York, Kevin O'Connor (1967-69). UMass has won 22 of the last 26 games. UMass went 7-1 at home last season. They were riding a 13-game home winning streak spanning three seasons to the last home loss, also to Albany on March 16, 2004.
• Two years ago, 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 they went 6-0 that season.
• Since the start of the 2001 season, UMass is 46-9 at Garber Field, winning 84 percent of the games at the friendly confines.
Close Calls
• UMass has played seven games decided by one or two goals this season, losing to Hofstra (8-6), Yale (7-6), No. 2 Albany (10-9 in OT), No. 11 Loyola (10-8) and No. 6 Georgetown (8-7) in a battle for first place in the ECAC. The Minutemen beat Harvard (11-10) and Penn State (6-5 in OT).
• At Hofstra, UMass found themselves tied at 6-6 with less than five minutes remaining in the game, but lost by a pair, 8-6. The situation was eerily similar the following week when UMass once again found themselves tied at 6-6. Yale prevailed, 7-6. At Harvard on March 10, the Minutemen were able to eek out their first win of the season by a goal, 11-10. On March 13 at Albany, UMass trailed 7-0 near halftime but rallied back to tie the game at 9-9, only to lose in overtime, 10-9 to the second-ranked Great Danes. It marked the fourth year in a row Albany beat UMass in a one-goal game.
Schneider On Tewaaraton List
• UMass sophomore goalie Doc Schneider has been named to the 2007 Tewaaraton Preseason Watch List, awarded college lacrosse's top player. The Long Island native helped lead the Minutemen to the NCAA Championship game in 2006 and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. He posted a 8.13 goals against average and 13-5 record as a freshman.
• Last season, attackman Sean Morris was the national runner-up for the Tewaaraton Trophy as the sport's best college player. Jack Reid was also on the preseason watch list.
• The Tewaaraton Award Foundation announces the Spring 2007 Men's Preseason Watch List. These players are considered early season indicators of who to watch as the 2007 lacrosse season begins. This list will be voted upon by coaches and narrowed as the season progresses, ultimately reaching a final list of five players who constitute the award's finalists.
2006 Season Of History
• The Minutemen played in the NCAA Championship game for the first time in school history in 2006. UMass also reached the Semifinals after 10 unsuccessful tries in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Minutemen had been to the most tournaments (17) of any school without a berth to lacrosse's final four. The Minutemen have been to the eighth-most NCAA Tournaments. UMass was the third team from New England to make the NCAA Semifinals. Yale (1990) and Brown (1994) are the only others. The Minutemen are the only one of the three to make the championship game.
• UMass posted a 13-5 record playing for USILA National Coach of the Year Greg Cannella. They were ranked No. 10 in both the USILA Coaches Poll and Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. UMass captured its 21st New England Championship in 2006 while finishing second in the ECAC with a 5-2 record. Sean Morris and Jack Reid were named USILA First-Team All-Americans marking the first time UMass had two first-team honorees. Reid was also UMass' first-ever first-teammer on defense.
Four Named Preseason All-Americans
• UMass has four players on Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Magazine's Preseason All-American team. Senior midfielder Brian Jacovina has been named to the preseason third team. Sophomore attacker Jim Connolly, sophomore goalie Doc Schneider and senior defensive midfielder Dan Whipple have been named honorable mention All-Americans.
WRNX 100.9 To Air Seven Games This Spring
• Seven UMass men's lacrosse games will be aired live on WRNX 100.9 FM in Western Massachusetts. The games will be part of the UMass Sports Network with the "Voice of the Minutemen" Bob Behler calling the action with former All-American Norm Smith. The final seven Saturday games will air live starting with the March 24 game at Loyola. Every regular-season game will be available online at UMassAthletics.com. Postseason action will also air on 100.9 FM WRNX.
