University of Massachusets Athletics

Tuesday, March 7
Albany, N.Y.
3:00 PM

University of Massachusetts

at

UAlbany

Men's Lacrosse Huddle

Men's Lacrosse Travels To UAlbany For Midweek Matchup

March 06, 2023 | Men's Lacrosse

Game 5  Massachusetts (2-2, 0-0 A-10) vs. UAlbany (1-2, 0-0 America East)
Date | Time  Tuesday, March 7, 2023  | 3:00 p.m.
Location  Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium  | Albany, N.Y.
Live Statistics  Sidearm
Watch  ESPN+
Series History  UAlbany leads 13-9
 Last: Massachusetts 12, UAlbany 9
 Garber Field | Amherst, Mass. | March 7, 2022
Twitter  @UMassAthletics | @UMassMLacrosse
Instagram  UMass Men's Lacrosse
Tickets   N/A


Against UAlbany

- Tuesday will mark the 23rd all-time meeting between UAlbany and UMass with the Great Danes leading 13-9.
- UAlbany took the 2021 matchup between the two teams, 13-12 in Albany, New York, snapping a two-game winning streak for the Gorillas. UMass was victorious over the Great Danes in their last trip to Garber Field last season, winning 12-9 on March 8.

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.

To Quickly Recap

- Massachusetts men's lacrosse held a 3-2 lead after the first, but a seven-goal second quarter helped No. 11/13 Yale pull away from the Gorillas, handing UMass a 18-9 setback at Garber Field last Friday afternoon.
- Graduate student Gabriel Procyk posted his second hat trick of the season for the Gorillas, while junior Grant Breyo had two goals and an assist to match his single-game career best. Shane O'Leary scored two and Mike Tobin collected three assists, equaling a career high.
- Chris Lyons and Matt Brandau combined for nine of Yale's 18 tallies, with Brandau also added four assists for an eight-point effort. Leo Johnson and Johnny Keib had two goals each, as well.
- The Bulldogs finished with a 55-44 shot advantage while ground balls were even at 38 apiece. UMass converted 3-of-6 extra man opportunities and Yale was 1-for-4.
- Goalkeeper Matt Knote logged 16 stops for the Gorillas and Jared Paquette had 22 saves for Yale.

Minutemen Milestones

- With a hat trick against Yale, Gabriel Procyk moved up from 10th all-time in career goals into a tie with Will Manny for seventh all-time with 107. He is seven from passing Kevin Patterson (1975-77) for sixth. His is the program record holder in man-up goals with 23.
- Freshman Aiden Drunsic scored his first collegiate goal against Yale on March 3.

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 130 points over 50 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 enter 2023 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 2 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 10th all-time in the UMass record book in career saves (435) and holds a career save percentage of .536 and a goals-against average of 10.83 over 2089 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 Tuesday's matchup at UAlbany, the Gorillas will next travel to Vermont on Saturday, March 11 for a 1 p.m. contest against the Catamounts.
- UMass will then return home to host #6/7 Rutgers on Saturday, March 18 at 1 p.m. and Brown on Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m. 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.

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