Thursday, May 5th at No. 5/No. 1 seed UAlbany (7pm)
America East Semifinal #2
(Casey Stadium; Albany, N.Y.)
Watch Live | Live Stats | Game Notes

Television: ESPN+
Talent: Charlie Voelker (PXP) and Justin Berger (Analyst)

SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell enters Thursday's game with an 8-7 overall record and a 3-3 mark in America East play, finishing in a tie with UMBC for fourth place in the conference standings. The River Hawks clinched a berth in the America East playoffs for the first time in school history on Friday night with the UMBC loss to Vermont. The River Hawks owned the head-to-head tiebreaker and defeated the Retrievers by a 10-7 score on March 31^st at Cushing Field Complex. UMass Lowell is coming off a 9-3 win against NJIT in the regular-season finale on April 28^th at Cushing Field Complex. Senior attackman Sean Tyrrell (Calgary, Alta.) leads team with a career-high 55 points and 30 assists, to go along with 25 goals. Freshman goalie Hunter Braun (Hartland, Mich.) has started 13 of 15 games for the River Hawks, posting an 8-6 record along with a 10.16 GAA and a .580 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES: No. 5 ranked and top seed UAlbany owns a 12-2 overall record and a 5-1 record in America East play. The Great Danes own a 7-0 home record so far this season. UAlbany is 3-2 its last five games, which includes a 16-6 win in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Hartford. Senior attackman Connor Fields leads the Great Danes with 71 points and 42 assists. His 5.92 points per game is third best in the nation. Senior goalie JD Colarusso has been an anchor for UAlbany in net with a 12-2 record to go along with a 7.21 GAA and a .603 save percentage. His GAA leads the nation and his save percentage ranks third among all Div. I goalies.

SERIES HISTORY VS. UALBANY: The River Hawks own a 0-4 all-time record against the Great Danes, which includes the most recent meeting, a 13-6 win for then No. 1 UAlbany against the River Hawks at Cushing Field Complex on March 24^th.

LAST TIME OUT: Junior midfielder Austin Lane (Aurora, Ont.) notched his seventh career hat trick to pace the UMass Lowell Men's Lacrosse team to a 9-3 victory against NJIT on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale at Cushing Field Complex. Senior midfielder Jon Phillips (Delta, B.C.) and sophomore attackman Dan Cozzi (Reading, Mass.) each finished with three points on the day. Phillips added two goals with eight shots and seven shots on goal, while Cozzi added two assists.  The teams were tied 2-2 at halftime, but the River Hawks scored seven goals in the second half to secure the victory, which included the final three goals in the contest. Freshman goalie Hunter Braun (Hartland, Mich.) recorded eight saves in his eighth win of the season, while NJIT's Alexzander Hunt totaled 15 stops in the losing effort. The River Hawks outshot NJIT, 36-24 in the game, which included a 11-5 advantage in the fourth quarter and a 7-1 edge in the opening frame. Freshman Jake Zablocki (Dudley, Mass.) totaled a game-high seven ground balls and won nine of 14 faceoffs (64%) for the River Hawks.

TYRRELL IS THE RIVER HAWKS DIV. I IRON MAN: Sean Tyrrell is the only player to play in all 61 games in the team's Division I history. Senior defender Bain Schroder (Ellicott City, Md.) has played the next most games at 56 contests and senior long stick midfielder Will Puduski (Westford, Mass.) has played in 55 games in his River Hawk career. He has notched career-high's in points (55), assists (30) and goals (25). His 156 points (76g, 80a) in 61 career games is the most in the team's Div. I history.

UMASS LOWELL EMO GOALS: The River Hawks lead America East with a 50% conversion rate on EMO goals (14 for 28), which ranks sixth among Div. I teams. Senior midfielder Jon Phillips has scored nine of the 14 River Hawk EMO goals this year.

BRAUN LEADS THE WAY IN THE RIVER HAWK NET: Braun leads the nation with 188 saves and 13.4 saves per game. He has started the last 13 games for the River Hawks, posting a 8-6 record with a 10.16 GAA and a .580 save percentage. Has notched 20+ saves four times this season, which includes a Div. I school record 21 saves twice. Braun has posted 10+ stops in 11 contests this season. His .580 save percentage ranks third among America East goalies. Has been named America East Defensive Player of the Week twice this season.
 
FOUR IS A CROWD: Matt Balter, Austin Lane, Jon Phillips and Sean Tyrrell has all scored 25 or more goals this season for the River Hawks. It marks the first time in the program's history that UMass Lowell has had four 20-goal scorers in the same season.

PUDUSKI THE LEADER ON DEFENSE: Senior long stick midfielder Will Puduski leads the team with 69 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers. His 1.93 caused turnovers per game ranks 10^th in the NCAA and first among America East players. His 4.6 ground balls per game rank third among America East players.

BALTER HAVING A CAREER YEAR: Senior attackman Matt Balter (Albany, N.Y.) leads the team with a career-high 27 goals and a career-high 34 points in his senior campaign. He has amassed goals in 12 games this year and has eight multi-goal games to his credit.

AMERICA EAST LEADERS: Sean Tyrrell's 2.0 assists per game rank second in America East and his 3.7 points per game is fifth best in the conference. Matt Balter ranks eighth among AE players with 1.8 goals per contest. Sam Klingsporn's 6.4 shots per game ranks sixth in the league.

REGIONALLY RANKED: The River Hawks have been  ranked three times in the NEILA regional poll so far this season, which includes a No. 8 ranking this week. UMass Lowell was ranked in the NEILA for the first time in program history on Monday, March 12^th.

OH CAPTAINS MY CAPTAIN: The River Hawks are led by Cory Highfield (Georetown, Ont.), Jon Phillips and Will Puduski and Sean Tyrrell. Puduski and Tyrrell have been captains for all four years of their River Hawk careers since arriving on campus in the fall of 2015.

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