LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Garrett Murphy (Billerica, Mass.) scored a career-best four goals, as the UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (0-6, 0-1 AE) fell to the UAlbany Great Danes (3-4, 1-0 AE), 19-8, in the conference opener on Saturday afternoon.

Murphy, who tallied his second multi-goal game of the season, was one of five River Hawks to find the back of the net. Freshmen Colby Frigon (Providence, R.I.), Johnny Soi (Kerhonkson, N.Y.), sophomore Jackson Dean (Deer Park, Wash.), and senior Justin Longo (Kingston, N.Y.) all chipped in with a goal, while junior Khairi Sears (Columbus, Ohio) contributed with a game-high two assists. In net, graduate student Mark Pav (South Setauket, N.Y.) made three saves, while sophomore Luke Renaud (Skaneateles, N.Y.) made nine saves in relief.
 
The Great Danes came out firing, striking just under 45 seconds in to take the early lead. Though they were able to control possession for the next couple of minutes, the River Hawks were unable to find the equalizer before UAlbany fired off nine straight goals to own a 10-0 lead after one.
 
After two goals by the visitors made it a 12-goal differential, the River Hawks began to find their footing, as Sears dished a pass to Frigon, who laced a shot past the keeper to get his squad on the board. Less than a minute later, UMass Lowell struck again, this time off the stick of Soi, before Murphy added his first of the day to make it 12-3 with 10:10 on the clock. UAlbany, however, locked down, scoring three more through the remainder of the half, while Murphy added one more, to make it 15-4 at the break.
 
UMass Lowell started the second half strong, forcing a turnover by the Great Danes on their first possession, setting up Longo for his lone goal of the afternoon, cutting the lead to 15-5. Nearly four minutes later UAlbany responded with a goal by Daniel Kesselring, but the River Hawks countered nearly instantly when Dean buried his shot into the net, to make it a 16-6 game with 8:33 left.  The two sides proceeded to lock down on defense, combining for three caused turnovers and four saves, keeping the score the same heading into the final quarter.
 
Attempting to thwart any comeback opportunities for the River Hawks, the visitors tallied two goals in the first two minutes of the fourth to add to their lead. The River Hawks did not back down though, adding two more to their total with goals from Murphy, but a final goal by the opposition sealed the 19-7 final.
 
Next up, the River Hawks hit the road to take on conference foe Bryant on Saturday, March 23. Opening faceoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Beirne Stadium.