Box Score (.PDF) | Coach Stephenson Interview

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team was defeated by Hartford, 13-5, in their inaugural America East game Saturday afternoon at Al-Marzook Field.

"I thought it was a great opener for us in the conference," said Head Coach Ed Stephenson. "We certainly learned a hard lesson today that we have to take care of the ball. We had some great caused turnovers but we really struggled to secure the ball. For a young team, we have to be more disciplined and aware in that area."

Hartford (3-2, 1-0) got off to a fast start with two goals in the opening three minutes until freshman Cory Highfield (Georgetown, Ontario) got the River Hawks (1-5, 0-1) on the scoreboard with his seventh goal of the season at the 4:22 mark.

The Hawks started the second quarter with three consecutive goals before sophomore Christopher Litchfield (Burlington, Mass.) netted his second goal of the season. After scooping up a ground ball near the halfway line, Litchfield sprinted down the field and beat goalie Ryan Vanderford with a shot low to his left. 

Hartford scored the final three goals of the half to take an 8-2 lead into halftime.

Trailing 10-2 with under six minutes left in the third quarter, freshman Matthew Balter (West Sand Lake, N.Y.) got on the score sheet with his fourth goal of the season off an assist from fellow freshman Sean Tyrrell (Calgary, Alberta).

In the fourth quarter, Highfield added his second tally of the game with 13:14 left after receiving a pass from freshman Zack Schwartz (Huntington, N.Y.). The assist for Schwartz was his first collegiate point. Freshman Noah Ryan (Hempstead, Md.) capped off the scoring for UMass Lowell with an unassisted goal with 32 seconds remaining. Like Schwartz, the goal was his first point at the collegiate level for Ryan. 

Sophomore goalie Giles Ober (Southborough, Mass) made seven saves between the pipes and  fellow sophomore Alex Desmarais (Atkinson, N.H.) came on in relief to stop six shots in the fourth quarter.

UMass Lowell continues its season on March 17 as they host Fairfield University at 4 p.m.