Men's Lacrosse Prepares To Host 2024 Atlantic 10 Championship

2024 Atlantic 10 Men's Lacrosse Championship
Game 14	Semifinal No. 4 Seed Massachusetts Minutemen (6-7, 2-3 A-10) vs. No. 1 Seed Saint Joseph's Hawks (10-3, 5-0 A-10)
Date \| Time	Thursday, May 2, 2024 \| 3:00 p.m.
Location	Garber Field \| Amherst, Mass.
Live Statistics	StatBroadcast
Watch	ESPN+
Series History	Saint Joseph's Leads 3-2 Last: Saint Joseph's 12, Massachusetts 7 Garber Field \| Amherst, Mass. \|April 6, 2024
Twitter	@UMassAthletics \| @UMassMLacrosse
Instagram	UMass Men's Lacrosse
Tickets	Buy Now

AGAINST SAINT JOSEPH'S

- Massachusetts and Saint Joseph's reunited as A-10 foes last season after a brief stint as conference opponents in the CAA. The Hawks currently lead the series 3-2 after taking both meetihgs as A-10 foes thus far. The teams previously met on Garber Field on April 6, a 12-7 victory for Saint Joseph's.

LAST TIME OUT

- A 6-0 first quarter deficit proved too much for University of Massachusetts to overcome as the squad fell to High Point, 17-10 in the teams' regular season finale at Vert Stadium.
- Mike Tobin, Matthew Cargiulo and Conor Foley all had two goals on the afternoon, while Grant Breyo added a goal and an assist. Freshmen Zack Waxman and Jimmy Elliott both registered their first collegiate points with a goal and an assist, respectively. Tobin added three ground balls and a caused turnover, as well. Matt Knote totaled 12 saves in the cage for the Gorillas.

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS

- Senior Mason Bregman has 34 points (22g, 12a) in 13 games good for second on the team thus far this season. Bregman surpassed his career high in points, 19, set in 14 games last season just six games into the 2024 campaign. He posted 21 points over the first 18 games of his career prior to 2024. Bregman has at least one point in 11 of 13 games this season with multi-point performances in 10 of 13, including a career high in goals (5) and points (6) against Richmond.

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 35 points (22g, 13a) in 13 games and has a 67-56-123 line for his career over 58 contests.

WHERE THEY STAND

- Heading into Atlantic 10 Tournament, UMass ranks third in the nation in man-down defense (.806), second in the Atlantic 10, the Gorillas are 27th in saves per-game (12.77), second in the conference.
- UMass leads the A-10 in fewest turnovers committed per-game and is third nationally at 13.69
- The Gorillas are top-30 in scoring defense (10.77), 27th, third in the A-10.
- UMass is 27th in scoring margin at 1.31 and 14th in the nation in shot percentage (.319).
- Individually Jack Wittmaack sits 25^th nationally in caused turnovers per-game, second in the A-10 with a 1.69 clip. Matt Knote is 18^th nationally in save percentage (.545), second in the A-10 and the A-10 leader in saves per-game (12.54), 19th nationally and 25^th nationally in goals-against average (10.65).

CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2024

- Graduate students Matt Caddigan, Jake Dulac, Matt Knote and Mike Tobin were selected as the team captains for the 2024 season. Both Knote and Tobin also served as captains for the Gorillas in 2023. The four individuals have combined for 223 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 racked up the pre-season honors heading into 2024. Knote was 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 (733) and holds a career 10.46 goals against average and a .549 save percentage over 58 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.
- At St. Bonaventure on April 13, Jack Wittmaack registered his first career assist and Ryan Mazzariello made his collegiate debut.
- At High Point on April 26, Zack Waxman scored his first collegiate goal and Jimmy Elliott collected his first career point with an assist.

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 247-174 (.587) 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 142-298 (47.7%) with 76 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 continues 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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