Saturday, February 19 at Massachusetts: Live Stats
 
LOWELL, Mass.—Vying for their first win of the season, the UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (0-1) heads west to in-state foe Massachusetts (0-1) for a matinee matchup on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 1 p.m.
 
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell opened the 2022 campaign last weekend with a home tilt against Quinnipiac, falling 15-14 in a down-to-wire battle with the Bobcats. The game marked the first non-conference contest for the River Hawks in a five-game series. Last weekend, eight River Hawks made their way onto the scoresheet led by a seven-point outing by junior Conor Foley (Walpole, Mass.). With his career-high four goals and three assists, Foley also led America East in scoring opening weekend. Behind Foley's team high, five players registered multi-point outings against Quinnipiac. Sophomore Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.) picked up the second hattrick of his career to tally three points. Graduate students Kyle Laforge (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and Domenic Giachello (Somers, Conn.) scored three off two goals and an assist. In his River Hawks debut, junior Brian Wiles (Longmeadow, Mass.) scored his first goal and dished out two assists, while senior Dakota Clark (Bedford, N.H.) put up two for his first multi-point outing since the 2020 season. Rounding out scoring, senior faceoff specialist Liam McDonough (Groton, Mass.) and freshman Khairi Sears (Columbus, Ohio) each tallied an assist.
 
On defense, junior Cody Stevens (Windham, N.H.) and freshman Riley Lawhorn (Amherst, N.H.) led the crew with a pair of caused turnovers and a pair of groundballs. Freshman Alex Chairs (Ellicott City, Md.) joined McDonough and Wiles with a team-best four groundballs and added a turnover in his first collegiate start.
 
In the cage, freshman Calvin Desmarais (Dracut, Mass.) and graduate student Paul Macrina (Wrentham, Mass.) both saw action in their first game as River Hawks, combining for eight total saves.
 
SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
UMass enters this weekend's Kennedy Cup clash with an 0-1 record. The Minutemen opened their season against No. 10/11 Army West Point, falling 14-13 in a closely contested game. The team was led by fifth-year returner Kevin Tobin, who finished with four points (2G, 2A). Two Minutemen—Logan Liljeberg and Shane O'Leary—finished the day with hattricks to join Chris Connolly (1G, 2A) and Anthony Sericolo (2G, 1A) with three-point performances. At the X, sophomore faceoff specialist Caleb Hammett went 14-23 and collected a team-best 10 groundballs.
 
In the cage, junior Matt Knote (Speonk, N.Y.) saw a full 60 minutes for UMass, making eight saves in the loss.
 
A WIN FOR THE RIVER HAWKS WOULD 
A win for UMass Lowell would mark the first win of the season for the River Hawks as well as their first win against the Minutemen in Division I history.
 
IT'S FOLEY AT THE TOP
After leading the team and the conference in points with seven (4G, 3A), Foley was named the America East Offensive Player of the Week. The honor marked the first of the year for the River Hawks and the third of Foley's career. The first two came during his freshman campaign, picking up two Rookie of the Week honors.
 
DEBUTING AT CUSHING FIELD
Five freshmen made their collegiate debuts last weekend against Quinnipiac – Chairs, Desmarais, Sears, Riley Lawhorn (Amherst, N.H.), and Ryan Quinlan (Mattapoisett, Mass.). The trio of Desmarais, Sears and Chairs all broke into the starting lineup against the Bobcats. On top of his first appearance, Sears also registered his first collegiate point, adding an assist on one of Laforge's goals.
 
MAN-UP CHANCES
Five of the River Hawks' 14 goals on Saturday came on the extra-man opportunity, marking a single-game program record since elevating to Division I.
 
EFFICIENCY IS KEY
After last weekend, the River Hawks proved to be one of the most efficient teams in the nation based on offensive possession length, ranking sixth amongst all Division I programs. Out of its 41 possessions, UMass Lowell dominated on possessions under 30 seconds, scoring 44% of the time on quick opportunities. Their short-game success rate ranks them fourth overall in the country after opening weekend, sitting behind Syracuse, UMass and Bryant.  
 
FACEOFFS WIN GAMES
Off the faceoff, the River Hawks dominate in goal conversion, scoring off 50% of their faceoff wins. In the national ranks, UMass Lowell sits in second overall in efficiency off the faceoff, landing just behind Syracuse and ahead of Maryland.