(Photo courtesy of UML athletics) “The River Hawks broke a long loss streak this week.”
Jake Messer
Connector Editor
The drought is over! After three long years, the UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse team has finally won a game. On Feb. 7, the River Hawks were able to knock off the Merrimack Warriors, 14-9 at home. This moment has been years in the making, and no one could be more thankful for it than Head Coach Drew Kelleher.
“I’m really happy to see my guys see the fruits of their labor from the past eight months or so,” Kelleher said. “These guys have worked really, really hard, and they deserve it. My assistant coaches deserve it, they have been amazing since I got here, and we’ve had to go through a lot of adversity to get the first one.”
Indeed, Kelleher has gone through adversity since being hired back in June 2022. He was brought in to set the program straight, as the team was struggling to see success on the field.
Since the university joined Division I athletics back in 2015, the program has not seen a season where they managed to finish above .500. Their best season came back in 2018, when they finished 8-8, losing in the semi-finals in that year’s playoffs.
That high was evidently a one-hit wonder, as the team has yet to reach that level of success since. With the program in desperate need of change, Kelleher was brought in 2023.
Kelleher brought with him a very credible and successful resume. He spent seven seasons as the head coach for Manhattan College, where he won the program’s first ever MAAC Championship and its second appearance in the NCAA tournament. He was also named the 2021 MAAC Men’s Lacrosse Coach of the Year.
Looking for a new challenge, Kelleher accepted the head coaching job here at UMass Lowell. Excited to get started, Kelleher laid out his goals for the program.
“Through the whole process, they have shown a desire to become a destination in the Division I lacrosse landscape,” Kelleher said. “I truly believe we can develop a program that will compete for championships in the America East and compete on a national level.”
Maybe he was a little in over his head.
Since taking the role as head coach, Kelleher has posted a record of 1-26 in three years, posting a 25 game-losing streak until the win this season. Not much to show for a coach who had such high hopes upon his hire. However, with this win, the winds of change will be sweeping through the program.
This season, the River Hawks do not have any high ranked opponents on their schedule for this season, just the opponents they normally face, especially for their non-conference schedule. A win in their first game could be what they need to get the ball rolling for the rest of the season.
The team is full of talented seniors like Nolan Perkins, Henry De Tolla and Riley Lawhorn. All of which can rally the younger players on the squad and make something of this season and get the program back on track. All it takes is one win to create and establish a winning culture.
As Kelleher said, “Hopefully, this victory is the first of many.”
