Muller’s Buzzer-Beater Sends MLAX to CAA Championship Game

GAME INFORMATION
CAA Championship Semifinal Round
Massachusetts 13, No. 14 Hofstra 12
Records: Massachusetts (6-7) • No. 14 Hofstra (11-2)
Location: Johnny Unitas Stadium; Towson, Md.
Attendance: 1,105

HIGHLIGHTS

Dan Muller scored the game-winning goal from 35 yards away as time expired and finished with a five-point night on four goals and an assist. It marked a career high in goals for the redshirt senior and tied his personal best for points, originally set against Brown on March 25, 2017.

Muller recorded a hat trick in the first half and added an assist in the fourth quarter before his game-winner.

Massachusetts scored its first two man-down goals of the season against Hofstra. The final two goals on the game for the Minutemen were during man-down situations.

Grant Consoletti and Dom St. Laurent each posted three points via one-goal, two-assist outings. It tied St. Laurent's single-game best for points and assists.

Isaac Paparo tallied four caused turnovers and four groundballs. Paparo now owns 31 caused turnovers on the season, the most by a Minuteman since the NCAA began recognizing the statistic officially in 2010.

Jesse Leung registered a pair of goals against Hofstra, giving the rookie attackman 11 total on the season. Leung scored all 11 goals against CAA opponents.

Ben Spencer also had a two-goal outing, including his team-leading eighth man-up tally of the season.

Noah Rak finished 17-of-26 on faceoffs (65.4 percent). He picked up five groundballs, even with Mike McDonough for most in the game by a Minuteman.

Two additional Minutemen provided multi-point outings as Tyler Bogart and Jeff Trainor notched a goal and assist apiece.

Short-stick defensive midfielder Dylan Gruder and McDonough, a long-stick midfielder, combined on one of the two UMass man-down goals. Muller's game-winner was the second man-down tally.

FIRST QUARTER
Hofstra scored first, but the Minutemen took a 2-1 lead into the first break as Dan Muller posted a pair of first quarter scores. Muller was unassisted in both tallies as he registered goals No. 14 and 15 on the year with 12 minutes, three seconds and 5:37 to go, respectively.

SECOND QUARTER
Josh Byrne briefly tied the contest at 2-2 with his 37th goal of the season, but Massachusetts responded with four consecutive tallies for a 6-2 lead entering the final minutes of the half. The defense sprung the Minutemen to their sizable lead as UMass forced Hofstra into three consecutive empty possessions, all of which ended on turnovers. Junior faceoff specialist Noah Rak helped the Maroon and White control play with seven wins in nine tries during the frame.

Ben Spencer started the run when the 6-foot-4 midfielder fired a fastball by Jack Concannon with 9:52 left. Only 24 seconds later, Jesse Leung doubled the advantage on a pass from Grant Consoletti.

Jeff Trainor needed only 45 more seconds to make it 5-2 when he raced left and fired a hands-free shot by Concannon. Leung capped the run at the 2:57 mark when he potted his second of the game and 11th of the year in transition on a cross-crease feed from Tyler Bogart.

After Byrne broke the streak with his second of the game the Minutemen added back-to-back strikes for an 8-3 halftime lead. Muller earned the first half hat trick with 64 seconds to play in the frame before Consoletti notched the final tally with only 10 seconds remaining.

THIRD QUARTER
Dom St. Laurent added to the Massachusetts lead with the first goal of the third quarter. Alone behind the Hofstra cage, St. Laurent rolled around the right post and fired a sidearm shot into the back of the net.

Hofstra added its fourth goal of the game before St. Laurent helped Massachusetts boost its lead back to six goals. The redshirt sophomore midfielder caught the Prided defense away from the cage and slipped a pass to Bogart at the left post. Bogart pump-faked twice to put Concannon off-balance before he dropped a shot over the goalie's right shoulder.

FOURTH QUARTER
Spencer ended the Hofstra run with his eighth man-up tally of the year and his second score of the game. Muller slotted a pass to Spencer, who hammered a shot by Concannon 23 seconds into the fourth quarter as a one minute Pride penalty carried over into the frame.

The Pride continued to claw back as Byrne and Ryan Tierney combined for a four-goal Hofstra run that evened play at 11-all with 5:24 to go. The game-tying goal went as Byrne's conference-leading 40th of the season.

Massachusetts was hit with a penalty during Byrne's goal-scoring play, one of 11 called on the Minutemen and 19 overall in the game. However, Rak won the ensuing faceoff, Mike McDonough grabbed the ball and found Dylan Gruder streaking down the left side for an open look at the cage with 5:06 to play.

Byrne rallied Hofstra again less than a minute later with an unassisted tally that forced Muller's end-of-game heroics for the Minutemen.

Playing man-down again, Hofstra turned the ball over at the midline with one second left on the Johnny Unitas Stadium scoreboard. Muller raced over to the ball, scooped and stepped into a shot that sailed nearly 35 yards in the air before it bounced off of Concannon and into the back of the net.

UP NEXT
Massachusetts (7-7) plays for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title against host, No. 1 seed and No. 12 nationally ranked Towson (9-4) at 1 p.m. on Sun., May 6. The game will be broadcast live by the American Sports Network.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the team throughout the season on Twitter (@UMassMLacrosse) and Instagram (@UMassMLAX).

Scoreboard