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River Hawks Ready For 2023

2/10/2023 1:30:00 PM

LOWELL, Mass.—The UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse program eyes a fresh start this season after an offseason of changes. With a new coach, a new class of freshmen and a renewed sense of unity, the River Hawks are ready to rewrite the record books this season.

Our whole coaching staff is really excited. I’m humbled to take over as the Head Coach here. I think we’re in a spot where the guys have embraced the challenge of a new coaching staff and growing and learning to play a different style than they have in the past. I think the excitement is there, and our guys are ready to wear that jersey.
Head Coach Drew Kelleher
Lacrosse celly

Last season, the River Hawks battled to an overall 2-11 mark to finish seventh in the conference. Their two lone wins came on the road against NJIT and Binghamton to cap the season with a 2-4 record against America East foes to register their best conference win percentage since the 2019 campaign.

2022 Season Recap
Kelleher announcement

After the 2022 slate, the River Hawks introduced Drew Kelleher as the program’s second Head Coach in Division I program history. Kelleher came to the Mill City after an illustrious career at the helm of Manhattan College’s men’s lacrosse program, where he guided the team to its first-ever MAAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022.

New MLax Coach Hires
Connor Samuelson

With a new leader on the sidelines, Kelleher announced the addition of Connor Samuelson and Ian Moore to his staff. Samuelson came to UMass Lowell as the team’s defensive coordinator after spending five years as an assistant coach for Williams College. 

On the offensive end of things, Moore joined the River Hawks after spending the 2022 campaign as a volunteer assistant coach at Ohio State. In addition to serving as offensive coordinator, Moore also works with UMass Lowell’s special teams and faceoff unit.

“The new coaching staff has really helped us become even more tight-knit. I think a lot of that comes through hard work, and we’ve worked as hard as ever this offseason. At this point, we're as close as we ever have been.” 

- Sophomore Trevor Tismo

Though the River Hawks lost some key scorers to graduation, UMass Lowell retained several experienced veterans ready to set the tone for the relatively young roster. 

A familiar face on attack, junior Jake Davis returns to Cushing Field this season after avoiding the sophomore slump to rank third on the team in scoring with 27 points off 19 goals and eight assists to set career-highs in all three categories.

Harvath

Making a transition from midfield to attack, senior Nick Harvath is back in the lineup after a career year with 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. Three of his goals came on the extra man to help Harvath rank second on the team at the end of last season in man-up goals.

A transfer with a hot hand last year, Brian Wiles is primed to be a major asset on attack after netting 12 goals last season to tie for fourth on the team. Wiles added another four points to his season total of 16 with four assists in his 13 games.

Wiles

The River Hawks defense returns most of its key players from last season, including sophomores Alexander Chairs and Ryan Quinlan. This seemingly unstoppable duo was a force to be reckoned with in their freshman season, with Chairs leading the team in caused turnovers with 12 and Quinlan sitting not far behind with 10. Chairs and Quinlan also finished in third and fourth, respectively, in groundballs after combining for 50 pickups last season.

In goal, sophomore Anthony Mancino is back in the cage after finishing with a career-best two wins. Mancino earned his first collegiate win last season on the road at NJIT in an 8-7 thriller. He also made 10+ saves in seven of his 11 appearances last season.

Mancino
Everyone’s feeling good. The culture has improved a lot. This fall, a big focus was coming together as a team and focusing on everyone getting tight-knit. Everyone’s coming together really well and we’re excited to get going
Senior Jake Davis

The River Hawks boosted their roster with the addition of nine newcomers this fall. The young group of up-and-coming River Hawks has already been putting in the work this fall to integrate into the UMass Lowell system and add fuel to the fire heading into an exciting 2023 season.

We’ve been talking a lot about how we do things. A lot of work when nobodies looking, and the guys have been taking to that. I think you’re going to see a group that’s confident in themselves. My goal is to make practice so challenging that games are easy. I think our guys have attacked that. I think our guys have developed a lot. We’re just excited to show what we’ve been working on.
Head Coach Drew Kelleher
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2023 Men's Lacrosse Schedule

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The team kickstarts their first season under Kelleher with a busy non-conference slate that puts them up against Quinnipiac, Massachusetts, Siena, and LIU, before capping the stretch with a visit to Jacksonville.

UMass Lowell then opens the conference slate with a trip to UAlbany, before hosting Bryant and Binghamton for back-to-back home tilts. The River Hawks then close out the year with games against UMBC, Merrimack, Holy Cros and Vermont, before ending the season in the friendly confines of Cushing Field for a Senior Day clash with NJIT.

For as long as I’m the Head Coach here at UMass Lowell, we will be about the sum of our parts. For me, it’s to create an environment and a team dynamic where we’re going to do it as a team. I’m a big believer that accolades come with wins, and I think that being a team and winning will lead to that individual recognition. So, we’re talking a lot about being a team and doing it together. We just want to keep getting better.
Head Coach Drew Kelleher