Massachusetts Men's Lacrosse To Take On #19 Rutgers In Neutral Site Matchup Saturday

Game 7	Massachusetts (4-2, 0-0 A-10) vs. #19 Rutgers (5-2, 0-0 B1G)
Date \| Time	Saturday, March 16, 2024 \| 1 PM
Location	Weldon E. Howitt Middle School \| Farmingdale, N.Y. - TICKETS
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Watch	YouTube
Series History	UMass leads 18-11 Last: #6 Rutgers 11, Massachusetts 5 Garber Field \| March 18, 2023
Twitter	@UMassAthletics \| @UMassMLacrosse
Instagram	UMass Men's Lacrosse

AGAINST RUTGERS

- Massachusetts is 18-11 all-time against Rutgers after the squads rekindled an old ECAC rivalry at Garber Field last season after not having faced each other in 14 years.
- The series between Massachusetts and the Scarlet knights began in Amherst on April 16, 1977, a 12-11 win for the Gorillas.
- Last season UMass finished the opening frame with a one-goal advantage, but No. 6 Rutgers outscored the Gorillas 5-0 in the second to help the squad pull away and hand the Maroon & White a 11-5 setback at Garber Field on March 18.

LAST TIME OUT

- UMass team dropped a heartbreaker to Vermont last Saturday afternoon on Garber Field.
- Captain Mike Tobin and transfer Caelin Lewis each had a hat trick to pace the Gorillas. Mason Bregman (3a) and Shane O'Leary (2g,1a) also had three-point performances in the loss.
- Goalkeeper Matt Knote had a career day in net for the Gorillas. The captain did all he could to keep the game close, recording a season-high 19 saves and helping UMass kill five of six extra-man opportunities. But the highlight of the day for Knote came at the 7:37 mark of the third quarter with a full field goal for his first career point.

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

- Current UMass leading scorer senior Mason Bregman has 20 points (11g, 9a) in six games to pace the squad to start 2024. Bregman has already surpassed his career high in points, 19, set in 14 games last season. He posted 21 points over the first 18 games of his career prior to 2024.

OH BROTHER!

- When Michael Tobin logged his 100^th career point against UAlbany, he joined his brother Kevin '22 (39g, 82a, 160p) as the 45^th member of the Gorillas' 100-point club. They are the first set of brothers in program history to make the list.
- Tobin currently has 16 points (11g, 5a) in six games and has a 56-48-104 line for his career over 51 contests.

WHERE THEY STAND

- Heading into this weekend, UMass ranks fifth in the nation in man-down defense (.824), first in the Atlantic 10.
- The Gorillas are top-20 in both scoring offense (13.50, 19^th) and scoring defense (10.17, 19th), sitting third and second in the A-10 in those categories, respectively.
- UMass is 17^th in scoring margin at 3.33 and sixth in the nation in shot percentage (.360).
- Individually, Caelin Lewis is ninth nationally in shot percentage (.500), first in the Atlantic 10. He has scored 12 goals on 24 shots over his first six games in a UMass uniform, to lead the squad in goals, and has at least one goal in all five contests thus far with two hat tricks and four multi-goal efforts.

CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2024

- Graduate students Matt Caddigan, Jake Dulac, Matt Knote and Mike Tobin have been selected as the team captains for the upcoming 2024 season. Both Knote and Tobin also served as captains for the Gorillas in 2023. The four individuals have combined for 196 career games played in their time at UMass.

KNOTE-WORTHY

- Graduate student goalkeeper Matt Knote returns for his final season of eligibility with the Gorillas. On the back of an impressive 2023 campaign, he has racked up the pre-season honors heading into 2024. Knote has been named to the first Tewaaraton Watch List, tabbed an honorable mention Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American and a USA Lacrosse 2024 Division I Preseason All-America Third Team selection.
- In 2023 Knote collected All-America honors from three organizations, was crowned the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and earned spots on the NEILA All-New England First Team, Atlantic 10 All-Conference First team, All-ECAC, the A-10 All-Academic team and the CSC Academic All-District At-Large Team. His A-10 all-conference honor was his third of his career after also being named to the CAA First Team in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022.
- The goalkeeper ended the 2023 campaign as the national leader in save percentage (.593) and was tops in the A-10 in goals against average (9.33, fourth nationally) and saves per-game (13.43, 10th nationally). He finished 8-6 on the year after starting all 14 games and has 188 saves to his credit in 829 minutes, 35 seconds between the pipes with 31 ground balls. The Speonk, New York native is currently third in program history in career saves (641) and holds a career 10.34 goals against average and a .551 save percentage over 51 career contests.

FIRST TIMERS

- Against Army in the season opener on Feb. 10, Matthew Cargiulo registered his first collegiate goal, while Caelin Lewis picked up his first two points in a UMass uniform and Conor Foley scored his first goal at UMass.
- Cargiulo and Blaise New both made their collegiate debuts against the Black Knights.
- Charles Kurtz logged an assist in his collegiate debut for his first career point vs. UMass Lowell on Feb. 17 and picked up his first career goal against Marist on Feb. 20.
- Lewis logged his first collegiate hat trick on Feb. 20 vs. Marist.
- Versus Merrimack, sophomore Brian Jackman and senior John Crehan both netted their first collegiate goals and sophomore Aiden Drunsic registered his first career assist.
- Graduate student Matt Knote posted his first collegiate point with a goal vs. Vermont on March 9.

YEAR 30 FOR THE MAN IN CHARGE

- University of Massachusetts head coach Greg Cannella enters his 30^th season at the helm for the Gorillas and his 36^th year in coaching overall. He currently holds a record of 245-169 (.592) and ranks sixth among active Division I head coaches in wins. The UMass alumnus is the third-longest tenured among active Division I men's head coaches and the most tenured coach at one institution in Division I lacrosse (both genders).

DRIPPING WITH FACEOFF EXPERIENCE

- Senior faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett is back for another season in the faceoff circle for the Gorillas and has earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 Men's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference Team.
- Hammett, who was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team and to the All-Academic Team in 2023, appeared in all 14 games last season for UMass. He ranked second in the A-10 and 20th nationally with a .565 faceoff winning percentage, going 157-278, while team-best 81 ground balls. The Hanover, Massachusetts native posted his first two points of his career last season with a goal and an assist. The 2022 CAA Second Team and All-Rookie Team honoree won 60.2% of his faceoffs in A-10 play (68 of 113) in 2023.
- Hammett had a pivotal performance over X against UMass Lowell, going 15-of-21 (71.4%) and was 14-for-18 (77.8%) with 12 ground balls against Merrimack. Currently on the season he is 70-142 (49.3%) with 35 ground balls.

RETURNING SCORING

- UMass returns 2/3rds of its goal scoring from last season four of its top five point-getters from a year ago. Mike Tobin, back for a fifth year with the Gorillas led UMass with 38 points (21g, 17a) in 2023, while classmate Carter Castillo was third with 29 (14g, 15a), Shane O'Leary followed in fourth with 20 (16g, 4a) and Mason Bregman was fifth with 19 (15g, 4a). Tobin was an Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team attackman last season and earned a spot on the All-New England Second Team as well.

NEW LOOK DEFENSE

-The Gorillas graduated both close defensemen who saw the bulk of the playing time for the squad last season in Chris Campbell and Ryan Sharkey. Campbell was an All-New England First Team and A-10 First Team All-Conference after transferring to UMass from LIU. Fifth year d-man Jake Dulac, who played in all 14 games last season is back for his final season, while Jack Wittmaack saw action in every contest in 2023 returns for 2024 as does classmate Owen Quinn who played in 10 games as a junior. Current junior Matthew Petitto will see time for UMass in the back this season as well after appearing in 11 contests as a sophomore.
- Captain Matt Caddigan will continue his role as the primary defensive midfielder for the Gorillas. The Smithtown, N.Y. native caused 11 turnovers in 2023, the second most out of returning Minutemen. Caddigan played in 14 games last year, dishing out a pair of assists and scooping up 14 ground balls.

WELCOME TO THE TROOP

- The Gorillas have added 11 first-year players to their roster for 2024: midfielders Matthew Cargiulo (Manhasset, N.Y.), Max Crane (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Jimmy Elliott (Boonton Township, N.J.), Michael Finnerty (Melville, N.Y.), Chris Grimaldi (Corning, N.Y.), Dylan Johnson (Pomfret, Conn.), Blaise New (Bedford, N.Y.) and Jack Peters (Nashua, N.H.), attackmen Charles Kurtz (Cheshire, Conn.) and Zack Waxman (Sharon, Mass) and defenseman Luke Robinson (Wilbraham, Mass.).
- UMass has also brought in two transfers: midfielder Caelin Lewis of Sammamish, Washington, who played his previous two years at Syracuse and defenseman Chance Cook of Haslett, Michigan who played two seasons at Canisius prior to coming to Amherst.

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