HAMDEN, Conn.—The UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (0-1) suffered a 21-12 setback at the hands of Quinnipiac (1-0) Saturday afternoon on the road in the team's season opener.
 
Junior Garrett Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) exploded offensively to post career numbers across all three scoring categories. Murphy led the team with three goals and two assists for five points against Quinnipiac. In just his third-ever appearance, junior Curtis Redd (Amherst, N.H.) fired on all cylinders to dish out a pair of assists and net his own goal for another round of career firsts. In addition to Murphy and Redd, five other River Hawks hit the back of the cage. Freshmen Jackson Dean (Deer Park, Wash.) and Ben Roberts (Tenafly, N.J.) earned their first collegiate points, combining for three goals in their debut. Returning River Hawks Sean Parker (Flemington, N.J.), Jake Davis (Franklin, Mass.), and Khairi Sears (Columbus, Ohio) all scored in their first of the season, with Parker and Sears both striking twice against the Bobcats.
 
Faceoff specialist Devin German (Acton, Mass.) had a solid appearance at the X in his collegiate debut, winning eight of his 16 faceoffs taken. In the cage, freshman Luke Renaud (Skaneateles, N.Y.) made eight saves.
 
"It feels good to get the first one under our belt. We learned a lot about executing and what we need to work on. Im excited for this group moving forward," remarked Head Coach Drew Kelleher after his first game at the helm. 

Quinnipiac controlled the pace early in the action with four unanswered strikes to claim possession for the majority of the first quarter. Murphy eventually snapped the drought with his first goal since the 2021 season with just 3:54 left in the first to get UMass Lowell on the board. Redd followed up moments alter with his first-ever goal to get within two of the Bobcats, but a late strike from Quinnipiac's Steven Germain gave the home squad the 5-3 edge at the end of the first 15.
 
UMass Lowell came out for the second and controlled possession for the opening five minutes, camping high in the zone and firing shot after shot on Quinnipiac's Nick DiMuccio. An unfortunate string of penalties, however, forced the River Hawks to play down two men for a two-minute stretch. Despite tough work by the UMass Lowell defense to keep the Bobcats at bay and give Renaud a reprise from the attack, Quinnipiac net six unanswered to sprint out to an 11-2 lead with 6:41 left in the opening half.
 
Murphy stifled the Bobcats' scoring run with his second of the day off a beautiful feed from Redd with 5:32 left in the first. Though Davis got the final word in with his first of the year with 28 seconds in the half, another multi-goal run from Quinnipiac send UMass Lowell to the locker room down 14-4.
 
The Bobcats came out swinging with another three-goal burst to kick off the second half, but the River Hawks gained their footing scoring four in the frame to give themselves a fighting chance as they surged into the fourth.
 
Stretching their scoring explosion to four straight thanks to tallies from Dean, Parker and two from Sears, UMass Lowell battled to the finish and chipped away at Quinnipiac's margin with another set of flurries from Roberts, Dean and Parker in the final minutes. Despite the second-half resurgence, however, the Bobcats handed the River Hawks their first loss of the season with the 21-12 decision.
 
UMass Lowell opens the home slate next Friday, Feb. 17, against in-state foe Massachusetts. Faceoff is slated for 1 p.m.