University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Hofstra
Men's Lacrosse Honors Senior Class Against Hofstra On Friday
April 25, 2018 | Men's Lacrosse
Minutemen to celebrate eight-man graduating group prior to 5 p.m. tilt with the Pride
| University of Massachusetts Men's Lacrosse Game Notes & Information | |
| Game 14 | #20/16 Massachusetts (9-4 overall, 4-0 CAA) vs. Hofstra (6-6, 2-2) |
| Date | Time | Friday, April 27, 2018 | 5 p.m. |
| Location | Garber Field | Amherst, Mass. |
| Live Statistics | Statbroadcast |
| Watch | Lax Sports Network ($) |
| Series History | Massachusetts leads, 23-20 Last: Massachusetts 13, #14 Hofstra 12 • Towson, Md. • May 4, 2017 |
| Game Notes | Massachusetts | Hofstra | CAA |
| Team Records | Massachusetts | Hofstra |
| @UMassAthletics | @UMassMLacrosse | |
| UMass Men's Lacrosse | |
| Tickets | Available through the UMass Athletics Ticket Office |
Staying Power
Head coach Greg Cannella reached career win No. 200 in the midst of 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 203-141 overall (59.0 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) play their rookie seasons
• Spacecraft Pathfinder lands on Mars (1997)
• 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)
• Tom Brady is drafted by the New England Patriots (2000)
• Major League Lacrosse plays its inaugural game (2001)
The only current coach with a longer tenure at one institution is Notre Dame's Kevin Corrigan (30th season).
Mount St. Mary's head coach Tom Gravante was hired before the 1995 season, but missed all of 2005 due to illness and the team's official records attributes the 2005 season head coaching record to interim program leader Nick DeFelice. Due to that, 2018 tallies as Gravante's 23rd year with the Mount.
We're Going Streaking
UMass is winners of its last eight contests with victories over Brown, Delaware, Drexel, Fairfield, Hartford, NJIT, Towson and UMass Lowell. The eight-game win streak is the second-longest active in NCAA Division I entering the game against Hofstra. The current win streak makes UMass one of only seven teams in the nation currently with victories in five or more games consecutively. It is the most consecutive wins since the Minutemen won 15 straight during the 2012 season.
1. Saint Joseph's, 9 games
2. Massachusetts, 8 games
3. Cornell, 7 games
4. Bucknell/Denver, 6 games
6. Loyola (Md.)/Navy, 5 games
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 10 games, Trainor owns 33 points via 18 goals and 15 assists. He is the top-scoring midfielder on the team in 2018 and second only to Buddy Carr (36-24-12) in points over the last 10 contests.
Buddy Carr Trruck
Senior attack Buddy Carr is one point shy of reaching 50 on the 2018 season. Should he reach the points plateau, it would make Carr the first Minuteman with 50 or more points in a season since 2012, when Will Manny (77), Art Kell (53) and Kyle Smith (52) all surpassed the 50-point mark.
The Young Squire
Freshman attack Chris Connolly owns 37 points via 19 goals and 18 assists over his opening 13 appearances with the team. It is the 10th-most points by a freshman across NCAA Division I through games on Sun., April 22. He recorded at least one point in each of his 13 games played, including multiple in nine appearances. He is one of only two Minutemen with at least one point in each game (Jeff Trainor).
Paparo For The Course
Isaac Paparo recorded five groundballs and three caused turnovers at No. 16 Army. It was his third career game with five or more groundballs and his seventh with three or more caused turnovers. Paparo also recorded three caused turnovers each against Harvard, at Brown and at Fairfield, the eighth, ninth and 10th-such games of his career.
His defensive success against the Black Knights reflected a continuation of his sophomore year output, which included 46 groundballs and a program-record 33 caused turnovers. He enters the game against Hofstra with the most caused turnovers among active Minutemen (63) and the second-most groundballs (112), behind only faceoff specialist Noah Rak (248).
The Brick Wall Impersonation
UMass men's lacrosse junior goalie Sean Sconone made 20 saves in the 11-4 win at Fairfield on Sat., April 21. It marked the most saves by a Minuteman since current associate head coach Doc Schneider turned aside 21 attempts in a 7-6 overtime win at Hobart on April 11, 2009. His saves total tied Sconone for third-most across NCAA Division I this season and set the high-mark in the CAA, four more than the next goalie.
Dominate The Dot
Noah Rak won 113 of his 162 faceoffs and scooped up 87 groundballs during the last eight games, including wins over NJIT, UMass Lowell, Hartford, Brown, Drexel, Delaware, Fairfield and Towson. It equates to an average of 14.1 wins in 20.1 faceoffs each game (.701) with 10.9 groundballs scooped up.
Rak set his single-game faceoff win percentage best with victory in 90.5 percent of the faceoffs he took at UMass Lowell (19-of-21). He followed with a career-best 17 groundballs against Hartford (21-of-27), which equaled the number scooped up by the entire Hartford team over the course of the game.
Another Major League Gorilla
The Major League Lacrosse Charlotte Hounds franchise selected senior faceoff specialist Noah Rak in the fourth round with the 30th overall pick of the 2018 MLL Collegiate Draft. Rak was one of only two CAA student-athletes picked and he was joined by Hofstra goalie Jack Concannon (Florida Launch, fourth round, 34th overall). Rak is the 27th Minuteman selected in the MLL draft all-time.
