University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Drexel
Men's Lacrosse Starts CAA Play Saturday At Drexel
March 29, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse
Minutemen take to Vidas Field at 1 p.m. live on Lax Sports Network
| University of Massachusetts Men's Lacrosse Game Notes & Information | |
| Game 10 | Massachusetts (5-4 overall, 0-0 CAA) at [RV/--] Drexel (4-4, 0-0) |
| Date | Time | Saturday, March 31, 2018 | 1 p.m. |
| Location | Vidas Field | Philadelphia, Pa. | Directions |
| Live Statistics | Statbroadcast |
| Watch | Lax Sports Network ($) |
| Series History | Massachusetts leads, 5-4 Last: Massachusetts 14, Drexel 8 • April 28, 2017 • Amherst, Mass. |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts | CAA |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | Drexel |
| @UMassAthletics | @UMassMLacrosse | |
| UMass Men's Lacrosse | |
| Tickets | Available via Drexel Athletics |
Staying Power
Head coach Greg Cannella now approaches career win No. 200 as he enters his 24th season at the helm of the Minuteman program, one of the longest tenured coaches active in Division I men's lacrosse. He is the second-longest tenured head coach at one institution and fifth nationally in terms of total years spent as a Division I head coach. Cannella began his time as the leader of the team ahead of the 1995 season and, since then, won 10 or more games during seven campaigns. He guided the Minutemen to eight NCAA Tournament appearances and currently stands at 199-141 overall (58.5 win percentage).
When Cannella was hired, the following had not been invented yet...
• Nintendo 64 (1996)
• The DVD player (1996)
• Google (1998)
• The iPod (2001)
• MySpace (2003)
...and the following events were yet to happen:
• 2018 NFL Hall of Fame class members Brian Dawkins (1996), Ray Lewis (1996), Terrell Owens (1996), Randy Moss (1998) and Brian Urlacher (2000) debut in the league
• J.K. Rowling publishes the first Harry Potter book (1997)
• Tiger Woods wins his first major championship (1997)
• The International Space Station is launched (1998)
• SpongeBob Squarepants debuts on Nickelodeon (1999)
• George W. Bush is elected president, the first time (2000)
• Major League Lacrosse plays its inaugural game (2001)
Carr In The Driver's Seat
Senior attack/midfield Buddy Carr leads the team and ranks first in the CAA with 2.56 goals per game through nine contests (23 total). Adding in his 1.44 assists per game (fourth-most), Carr stands second in the league with 4.00 points per game.
Carr's 36 points already puts the Exeter, New Hampshire, native 10 ahead of his prior single-season best of 26 earned as a sophomore in 2016.
His 23 goals best his prior high-mark of 20 in 2016, while his 13 assists are also greater than his previous one-year best (eight in 2016, '17).
Train-oring For This Moment
Sophomore midfielder Jeff Trainor earned promotion to the first-line midfield ahead of the contest against No. 11 Yale. Since then, over six games, Trainor owns 22 points via 11 goals and as many assists. He is the top-scoring midfielder on the team in 2018 and second only to Buddy Carr (23-18-5) in points over the last six contests.
Scoring In Heaps & Bunches
UMass posted 17 goals against NJIT, the most by the program since the team downed Quinnipiac, 18-5, on March 10, 2015. The 14-goal margin of victory was also the largest for the program since a 17-3 win over Providence on March 16, 2010.
The win over NJIT started a scoring trend for the Minutemen, who have since posted 13 at UMass Lowell, 17 over Hartford and 14 at Brown. The team averaged 15.25 goals per game over the last four contests, all victories.
The Young Squire
Freshman attack Chris Connolly owns 27 points via 16 goals and 11 assists over his opening nine appearances with the team. It is tied for the seventh-most points by a freshman across NCAA Division I through games on Sun., March 25. He recorded at least one point in each of his nine games played.
Real Recognize Real
The Tewaaraton Foundation announced Isaac Paparo as a candidate for the Tewaaraton Award when the organization unveiled its 2018 watch list during a Thurs., March 1 ceremony. It marks Paparo's first career selection to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List, while he is one of only four members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) listed, including Hofstra's Dylan Alderman and Jack Concannon and Towson's Zach Goodrich.
Paparo is in his second season as a starter on close defense and third overall year as a key contributor for the program. Including the game against No. 11 Yale on Tues., Feb. 27, Paparo owns career totals of 97 groundballs, 56 caused turnovers and 11 points via four goals and seven assists.
The Westport, Connecticut, native set the program's record for caused turnovers in a season since the NCAA began official recognition of the statistics in 2010 with 33 over the 15-game slate in 2017.
Rinkus Carries A Heavy Hammer
Senior long-stick midfielder Shane Rinkus sports a single-season best 15 caused turnovers through nine games as the top long-pole midfielder on the team in 2018. It equates to an average of 1.67 caused per game, tied for the 20th-most in NCAA Division I and the fourth-greatest per-game total in the CAA.
