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Men’s lacrosse suffers blowout loss against Boston University, 18-8

The UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse team featured a setback against Boston University on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Hannah Manning
Connector Editor

The UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse team opened up their third Division I season with a 18-8 loss in a nonconference game against Boston University.

Boston University scored eight goals in the second quarter to build up their 4-2 lead from the first quarter, and the River Hawks were unable to overcome the large deficit as the game went on.

The River Hawks managed to score only one in that span of time, heading into the second half down nine goals.

“I was disappointed in our guys. I don’t think we had a good week of practice [before the game]… This certainly wasn’t our best effort,” said UMass Lowell head coach Ed Stephenson.

Boston University attack James Burr scored a hat trick before the end of the first half, scoring one goal in the first quarter and two in the second quarter.

Junior midfield Cory Highfield scored two goals for the River Hawks.

Junior attack/midfielder and co-captain Sean Tyrell scored the second-highest amount of points for players on both teams. He scored one goal himself, and had three assists.

Boston University won 12 out of 17 faceoffs in the first half, and tallied 25 shots to UMass Lowell’s 19. By the end of the game, Boston University won 20 out of 29 faceoffs.

UMass Lowell tallied 47 shots to Boston University’s 36.

Sophomore goaltender Grant Lardieri made 3 saves in two quarters, and was replaced by freshman Tyler Canto for the second half. Canto made 2 saves.

Boston University employed three goaltenders for the game. Christian Carson-Banister made 14 saves, with replacements Joe McSorley and Colin MacDougall making eight and two saves respectively.

The River Hawks scored two goals in thirteen seconds to cut an imposing four-goal lead by Boston University in half during the waning minutes of the first quarter.

Junior mid Jon Phillips sniped a top shelf goal from the slot on a pass from Tyrell to put the River Hawks on the board.

Highfield tallied UMass Lowell’s second goal with an unassisted effort.

Tyrell scored UMass Lowell’s third goal with 3:17 remaining in the second quarter with an assist coming from sophomore midfielder Blaine McMahon.

Going into the third period, the River Hawks replaced Lardieri with Canto.

A UMass Lowell shot in the first twenty seconds of the third quarter led to a turnover for Boston University, where they promptly capitalized on that opportunity with a goal.

Freshman attack/midfielder Isaac Bot and junior defenseman and co-captain Will Puduski scored goals for UMass Lowell in a span of nine seconds.

Despite having a small offensive comeback in the third quarter, scoring three goals, Boston University’s lead stayed constant. The River Hawks headed into the final quarter down 15-6.

Senior goaltender Giles Ober started the fourth quarter for the River Hawks, making no saves and allowing a goal.

UMass Lowell turned up the offensive pressure throughout the game and especially after the second quarter, and fought hard to stay in the game.

“I thought at times we were confident enough to stick to our guns. And I don’t think we ever panicked today,” said Coach Stephenson.

The River Hawks scored two goals in the fourth quarter to bring their goal total to eight, but the damage had been done in the second quarter. By the game’s end, they had fallen to Boston University 18-8.

“I didn’t see panic, and thank God. Over the last two years I think our team would’ve panicked because we’re so young. So I didn’t see panic today, but we did press a little and we need to learn not to do that,” said Coach Stephenson.

The River Hawks will continue their four-game nonconference homestand on Saturday, Feb. 18 against Harvard University at 11:45 a.m.

Hannah Manning

Hannah Manning is the Editor in Chief of the UMass Lowell Connector. A native of Haverhill, Mass., she is a senior working towards her bachelor's in English with a concentration in journalism and professional writing. She likes hockey, music and her fellow staff members at the Connector.

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