Massachusetts Men's Lacrosse Closes Out Non-Conference Schedule By Hosting Brown Saturday

Game 8	Massachusetts (4-3, 0-0 A-10) vs. Brown (3-3, 0-1 Ivy)
Date \| Time	Saturday, March 25, 2023 \| 1:00 p.m.
Location	Garber Field \| Amherst, Mass.
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Watch	ESPN+
Series History	Brown leads 30-28-1 Last: UMass 10, Brown 7 Providence, R.I. - Stevenson-Pincince Field \| March 26, 2022
Twitter	@UMassAthletics \| @UMassMLacrosse
Instagram	UMass Men's Lacrosse
Tickets	Saturday

Against Brown

- Massachusetts is 28-30-1 all-time against Brown in a series that dates back to 1954. The Gorillas have won the last three meetings in the series, at Brown on March 24, 2018, 14-7 in Amherst on March 23, 2019 and 10-7 over a No. 17-ranked Bears squad at Brown on March 26, 2022.

Where UMass Stacks Up

- UMass is currently fifth in the nation in scoring defense at 8.86 goals per-game, first in the Atlantic 10. The Gorillas are also first in the A-10 in saves per-game, 15.29, fifth nationally.
- Massachusetts ranks 16^th nationally in man-down defense at .739, second in the A-10.
- Senior Matt Knote leads the nation in save percentage (.632), fourth in goals-against average (8.71) and sixth in saves per-game (14.71).

A Knote-Worthy Performance

- Senior goalkeeper Matt Knote collected a host of accolades after UMass' win over Army on Feb. 11.
- Knote was named USA Lacrosse Magazine Division I Player of the Week, to the USILA Division I Team of the Week and earned the first-ever Atlantic 10 Men's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week.
- The Speonk, New York, native made 19 saves and picked up the win in a 10-8 victory over Army at Garber Field, also collecting four ground balls. He made 11 stops in the first half and allowed just one goal. The win marked the first for UMass vs. Army since 2014, ending a streak of seven straight wins by the Black Knights.

Knote Honored Again

- Goalkeeper Matt Knote was selected as the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week on March 13, earning the honor for the second time this season after helping the Gorillas to a pair of road wins over UAlbany (9-6) and Vermont (12-4).
- Knote posted a 4.15 goals against average and a .771 save percentage on the week, making 27 saves over the two games and collecting five ground balls. He had 15 stops on 21 shots on goal vs. UAlbany then followed up with 12 saves on 14 shots at Vermont.

To Quickly Recap

- Massachusetts finished the opening frame with a one-goal advantage, but No. 6 Rutgers outscored UMass 5-0 in the second to help the squad pull away and hand the Gorillas a 11-5 setback at Garber Field last Saturday afternoon.
- Five different Gorillas provided the five tallies on the day for UMass with graduate student Gabriel Procyk also adding an assist while extending his goal scoring streak to six straight games.
- For Rutgers, Dante Kulas paced the squad with four points on two goals and two assists, while Ross Scott, David Sprock and Eric Civetti had two goals apiece. Shane Knobloch contributed a goal and an assist to round out the multi-point scorers on the day for Rutgers.
- Rutgers out-shot UMass 53-32 on the day and went 1-for-3 in extra-man opportunities, while the Gorillas were 0-for-1. Each team won 10 of 20 faceoffs and the Scarlet Knights went 18-for-19 on clear attempts and Massachusetts was 11-for-15.
- Goalkeeper Matt Knote totaled 20 stops for UMass, one shy of matching his career best and Kyle Mullin totaled 12 saves for Rutgers. Redshirt sophomore Caleb Hammett collected a game-high six ground balls.

Minutemen Milestones

- With a hat trick against Albany, Gabriel Procyk moved into sole possession of seventh all-time in program history for career goals. Currently with 113 to his credit, Procyk is one from passing Kevin Patterson (1975-77) for sixth. Procyk is the program record holder in man-up goals with 23.
- Freshman Aiden Drunsic scored his first collegiate goal against Yale on March 3. Freshman Zach Auble registered his first career point vs. Army on Feb. 11 with an assist. Redshirt sophomore Jack Wittmaack picked up his first career goal at Vermont on March 11.

Challenging Road Ahead

- UMass' 2023 schedule features six matchups against 2022 NCAA Tournament teams and three more against squads that reached the conference championship games in their respective leagues.
- The Gorillas have six games on the slate against teams that were ranked in the preseason Top-20 USILA and Inside Lacrosse polls: #14 Boston University, #8/7 Yale, #10/9 Rutgers, #16 Brown, #13/15 Saint Joseph's and #19/20 Richmond.

Back For More

- The Gorillas have four players on this year's roster entering their fifth seasons with the Maroon & White: midfielder Jack Gump, attack Gabriel Procyk, midfielder Tim Hoynes and attack Jackson Cummings.
- Procyk was second on the team in goals (26) and third in points (33). He is the leading active career points scorer with 136 points over 53 career games.

Out Of The Portal

- UMass has added five transfers to the squad ahead of the 2023 campaign: defenseman Giuseppe Chiovera from NJIT, defenseman Chris Campbell from Hartford and LIU, midfielder Will Abbott from Quinnipiac, attack Conor Foley from UMass Lowell and defenseman Ryan Sharkey from Canisius.
- Abbott and Sharkey are graduate transfers, Campbell and Foley are seniors and Chiovera is a sophomore.
- Sharkey was a two-time All-MAAC selection at Canisius (second team 2021, first team 2022).

Hammett & O'Leary Look To Build Off Breakout 2022 Campaigns

- Redshirt sophomores Caleb Hammett and Shane O'Leary are looking to build off stellar seasons as redshirt freshmen in 2022.
- Hammett was an All-CAA First Team and All-CAA Rookie Team selection in 2022. He appeared in all 14 games and went 185-for-301 (.615) over X, leading the CAA in faceoff percentage and ranking fifth in the nation. The Hanover, Massachusetts native also paced the league in ground balls per-game (8.50) and ranked sixth nationally. He finished the 2023 campaign with 119 ground balls on the year.
- O'Leary was named to the All-Rookie Team after registering 16 points over 13 games on 14 goals and two assists during the regular season with 24 ground balls and four caused turnovers. The Byfield, Massachusetts, native opened the 2022 season with a hat trick at Army, tallying the first three goals of his career. He also put up three points (2g, 1a) at Yale and scored a pair of goals in a 12-9 win over UAlbany as both games were part of a six-game goal scoring streak for the midfielder. He finished the 2022 campaign ranked sixth on the squad with 17 points on 14 goals and three assists.

Welcome To The Troop

- Massachusetts has 10 first-year players on its roster this season: midfielder Zach Auble (Burlington, Mass.), face off specialist TJ Casey (Medfield, Mass.), attack Aiden Drunsic (Exeter, N.H.), defender Russ Hutchinson (Marblehead, Mass.), midfielder Brian Jackman (Oakville, Ontario), defenseman Zander Johnson (Downers Grove, Ill.), midfielder Liam Maher (Melrose, Mass.), goalkeeper Ryan Mazzariello (Watervliet, N.Y.), defenseman Kyle Swanson (Evanston, Ill.) and defenseman Rob Travers (Wycoff, N.J.).

Leading The Way

- Graduate student defenseman Jack Gump, senior goalkeeper Matt Knote and senior midfielder Mike Tobin have been named team captains for the 2023 season.
- Tobin logged 28 points on 13 goals and 15 assists in 2022 as a junior, finishing fourth on the team in scoring and earning a NEILA All-New England Second Team nod.

Preseason Accolades

- Senior defenseman Chris Campbell and senior goalkeeper Matt Knote were named to the inaugural Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team. The duo was also selected to the NEILA All-New England Preseason teams alongside redshirt sophomore faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett.
- The Gorillas were picked third in the preseason poll with 20 points, while Richmond was selected as the preseason favorite (33 points) with Saint Joseph's in second (29). Behind UMass, High Point (19), Hobart (18) and St. Bonaventure (7) round out the poll in fourth, fifth and sixth.
- Campbell comes UMass from LIU where he was an All-NEC first team and NEC All-Tournament Team honoree in 2022 after starting 14 games, collecting 31 ground balls and forcing 19 turnovers. The Shrewsbury, Massachusetts native previously spent two seasons at Hartford where he earned an America East All-Rookie Team nod in 2019. He started all 21 games for the Hawks over the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.
- Knote started all 14 games of his junior season in 2022, logging an 8-6-0 record with an 11.07 goals against average and a .527 save percentage, making 173 stops between the pipes to garner his second consecutive First Team All-CAA nod. The Speonk, New York native finished the 2022 regular season as the CAA leader in GAA and save percentage, while ranking second in saves per-game.
- Knote currently ranks seventh all-time in the UMass record book in career saves (482) and holds a career save percentage of .549 and a goals-against average of 10.49 over 2265 minutes in net.
- Hammett was an All-CAA First Team and All-CAA Rookie Team selection in 2022. He appeared in all 14 games and went 185-for-301 (.615) over X, leading the CAA in faceoff percentage and ranking fifth in the nation. The Hanover, Massachusetts native also paced the league in ground balls per-game (8.50) and ranked sixth nationally. He finished the 2023 campaign with 119 ground balls on the year.

Looking Ahead

- Coming off Saturday's matchup with Brown to close out the non-conference slate, The Atlantic 10 opener is set for Saturday, April 1 against High Point at noon on Garber Field.
- The Gorillas will then travel to Richmond for an A-10 meeting with the Spiders on Saturday, April 8, at 11:30 a.m. and will return home to face St. Bonaventure on Saturday, April 15, at 1 p.m. before heading play Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m.

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