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LOWELL, Mass.—The UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (1-8, 1-2 America East) continues its homestand with a conference matchup against Vermont (5-6, 2-0 America East) on Saturday, April 9, at Cushing Field. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the River Hawks faced a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to the University at Albany at Cushing Field. Three River Hawks registered four-point outings in the game with junior Conor Foley (Walpole, Mass.) leading the way with a career-high four goals. Additionally, graduate student Domenic Giachello (Somers, Conn.) dished out a career single-game best four assists and junior Brian Wiles (Longmeadow, Mass.) registered his first collegiate hat trick en route to a new career-high in points. Freshman Riley Lawhorn (Amherst, N.H.) kept the trend going with a career night of his own. The midfielder notched his first collegiate goal and finished the night with a career-high two points against the Great Danes.
 
Freshman Alex Chairs (Ellicott City, Md.) led the defense with four ground balls to match his season-high for the third time. Freshman Ryan Quinlan (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and goalie Anthony Mancino (Holbrook, N.Y.) helped keep the Great Danes at bay with a caused turnover each. Mancino also ended the day with one ground ball and 10 saves.
 
At the X, senior Liam McDonough (Groton, Mass.) won 17 out of 26 faceoffs and led the team with nine ground balls.
 
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
Foley, Giachello, Wiles and freshman Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.) lead the River Hawks' scoring efforts with double-digit goal totals through nine games. Foley's 24 goals put him at the top of the leaderboard in the category, followed by Giachello with 10, Davis with 13 and Wiles with 11. Matching his goal total, Giachello paces the squad in helpers with 10 so far this season. The freshman duo of Quinlan and Chairs continue to be dominant on defense for the River Hawks this season leading the team in caused turnovers with nine and eight, respectively. Chairs and Quinlan also rank third and fourth, respectively, in ground balls with 21 and 18 in their nine games. At the faceoff X, senior faceoff specialist McDonough has logged his best season since his freshman campaign, going 119 for 224 for a .531 faceoff percentage. In the cage, Mancino continues to be the leader on the field for UMass Lowell this year. In his seven games, the sophomore has seen 342:43 minutes of action and registered a 14.71 GAA and .429 save percentage.
 
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
Vermont enters the weekend looking for their fourth straight win and second consecutive conference victory after picking up wins over NJIT, Canisius and UMBC. Limiting their opponents to a combined 12 goals in their last three outings, the Catamounts' defense has been key in their recent success. With 10.27 caused turnovers per game, Vermont leads the conference and ranks sixth in the nation. They also boast the nation's third-best scoring defense, averaging 8.91 points per game. Senior attacker David Closterman leads the Catamounts with 34 points off 17 goals and 17 assists. His 17 assists lead the team while his 17 goals rank him third overall. Senior Thomas McConvey paces the crew in goals with 25 this season, which when combined with his seven assists, brings him to 32 points. At the faceoff X, junior Tommy Burke has had an impressive season with 151 wins in 247 faceoff attempts for a .611 faceoff percentage. Between the pipes, graduate student Ryan Cornell has seen most of the action for the Catamounts. In his 616:45 minutes played, Cornell has registered a league-best 8.76 GAA and .563 save percentage.
 
A WIN WOULD 
A win against the Catamounts would move the River Hawks to a 2-8 (2-2 AE) mark this season. It would also give UMass Lowell its first win over Vermont since 2019 when they took down the Catamounts 8-4 at home.
 
HOLY FOLEY
Foley has been on fire for the River Hawks this season, putting up career numbers in all scoring categories. With 31 points this year, Foley has set a new career-high in the category thanks in large part to his career-best 24 goals in nine games. His impressive stat line makes him the first River Hawk since 2018 to surpass 20 goals in a single season and the first since 2019 to surpass 30 points in a single season. An efficient attacker, Foley leads the conference in both goals per game (2.67) and shots per game (10.22). Foley's six man-up goals tie him for fifth in the nation and led the River Hawks to the third-best EMO total in America East.