Division I Men :     Scores • Stats     February 23, 2008 [ The Game Story]
Umass 8 Hofstra 4 Scoring: Scoring: Tim Balise Bobby Hayes Peter Mcnichols Ryan Hantverk Fred Federico Joe Reale Kevin Wright Evan Blum (4, 0) (0, 3) (1, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) (0, 1) (1, 0) Anthony Muscarella Kevin Ford Michael Colleluori (2, 1) (2, 0) (0, 1) Saves: Saves: Doc Schneider 19  (0.826) Danny Orlando 8  (0.500) Current Record :     (1-0) Current Record :     (0-1) Go to team page > Go to team page >       The Game Story: AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass men's lacrosse team used sensational defense and a four-goal outburst from Tim Balise to top No. 17 Hofstra in the season opener for both teams on a cold Saturday afternoon at Garber Field. UMass junior goalie Doc Schneider tied his career-high with 19 saves as UMass the defense featuring seniors Brian Danvers, Sean Krygier, David Von Voigt and sophomore Diogo Godoi kept Hofstra at bay all afternnon. Hofstra's top five returning point-getters from last year, did not tally a goal on the afternoon. It was an all-around team effort as junior face-off man Joe Reale won 10-of-16 draws in his first season as a starter. In addition to Balise's career-high four goals, four other Minutemen scored: Evan Blum, Fred Federico, Ryan Hantverk and Peter McNichols. UMass jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter as Balise opened the scoring off a pass from Bobby Hayes, just 2:25 into the action. McNichols netted his first college goal 5:25 into the game after a pass from Kevin Wright for a 2-0 lead. The Minutemen kept cooking in the second quarter, as Balise scored two more as his third of the game made is 4-1 UMass with 4:51 left in the half. Blum's late goal with 50 seconds left sent UMass into the half with 5-1 advantage. Hofstra started to mount a comeback in the third quarter as freshman Kevin Ford scored his first two college goals to make it 6-3 UMass with 8:20 left in the third. But Federico's laser beat Hofstra's Danny Orlando and put the Minutemen back up 6-3. Schneider made five saves in the quarter as Hofstra outshot UMass 11-4. In the fourth, Hantverk got on the board to make it 7-3 just 1:06 into the quarter. Reale won the ensuing face-off and hit a streaking Balise for the Minutemen's second goal in seven seconds and an 8-3 edge. Anthony Muscarella wrapped the scoring with his second of the game and the 8-4 final with Hofstra on the short end. Schneider again was a standout in the fourth with seven saves, giving him 12 in the second half alone. UMass travels to Yale for next Saturday's meeting at 1 p.m. Stats Score By Quarter Hofstra (0-1) 0-1-2-1=4 UMass (1-0) 2-3-1-2=8 Shots Hofstra 4-8-11-14=37 UMass 7-10-4-4-=25 Groundballs Hofstra 6-5-6-10=27 UMass 5-7-8-9=29 Saves Hofstra 2-3-2-1=8 UMass 3-4-5-7=19 Turnovers Hofstra 6-3-6-4=19 UMass 4-6-9-5=24 Face-Offs Hofstra 6/16 UMass 10/16 Clears Hofstra 19/24 UMass 15/20 EMO Hofstra 1/2 UMass 0/1 Att.: 1254

The Minutemen dictated the tempo and tenor of the game winning 8-4 with a solid, early-season performance over No. 17 Hofstra. UMass advances 1-0 with the season opener take. Sound defense, Doc Schneider in the cage, and an offensive flow made for a Minuteman serving not too easy for the Pride to swallow.

Pre-season rankings are to say at the very least, a bit tricky. Speculative formulas generating numbers based on potential, history, and opinion/hype are quickly debunked and frankly, don’t mean much after the final whistle of a season opener upset. Given that, if x is the winner, and x is a soft value between 0 and 17, what, who is x?

It didn’t take too long to see that UMass was the stronger of the two game contenders. With that being said, the game had turnovers typical of early season action (24-19 UMass to Hofstra). The key difference was that UMass was able to make coin from coal and even though the final goal differential implied a closer contest, the separation was distinct. If the off field response was any indication of field play, the Pride, who had a strong, vocal (especially in the first quarter when UMass only led 2-0) contingent, the point at which local fans made it a caged Zoo locked by a snowy perimeter, was palpable, certainly audible.

Hofstra was plagued by shot selection, or lack thereof (37 shots to 25). UMass goalie Doc Schneider, no doubt a talented player, received many a campaign contribution care of the Hofstra offensive fund. We could assume that the Pride had an off day to sort of mitigate the circumstances, but really it was the UMass defense; cut from that signature cloth of size, presence, and something else, it is all best described by their Viking theme sounding off at the start of each game. The UMass defense seemed a bit amused by their effect. The Pride seemed a bit shy on the take initiating with a hard drive 10 yards away only to dish without purpose.

Junior Tim Balise led UMass with four goals while Anthony Muscarella paced the Pride with two goals and one assist. The rest of the stats do much of the talking. Hofstra out shot UMass 37-25, but that’s one of the only categories in which they had a lead. UMass controlled possession: grounders 29-27, face-offs 10-16, and saves 19-8.

Hofstra took the first ball at the face off x, but was unable to hold onto possession. Both teams traded quick turnovers. UMass was first to strike at 13:35 with a goal from Tim Balise going stick side low to high with a side arm. Sophomore Bobby Hayes got the grounder of a dropped pass dishing off to Balise. UMass extended the lead (2-0) with a goal from freshman Peter McNichols from sophomore Kevin Wright at 9:35. Wright took his defender with the face dodge to goal finding McNichols low who finished with a stick side over hand bouncer.

UMass outscored the Pride 3-1 in the second period. Balise scored his second goal off a ball from McNichols. Balise snagged the grounder. Sophomore Hofstra keeper Danny Orlando stepped out of the cage. Balise found the back of the net at 11:34 giving UMass a 3-0 lead. The Pride finally answered back with a goal at 7:19 from Anthony Muscarella (1-3). Muscarella went 1v1 with the righty overhand off hip bouncer. UMass rounded out the half with a pair of goals from Balise and Evan Blum. Balise converted for an overhand jump shot on the rebound posting a hat trick (4-1) at 4:51. UMass scored with less than minute on the clock. Blum hit top shelf off a feed from Hayes giving UMass a solid 5-1 lead going into the half.

Hofstra turned up the offense in the second half out shooting UMass 25-8. The Pride outscored the Minutemen 2-1 in the third. Hofstra put in two goals back to back. Kevin Ford scored at 9:18 with the assist credited to Michael Colleluori. Ford’s low to high cut took Schneider off pipe shooting weak side (2-5). Ford scored again less than a minute later off a pass from Muscarella. Ford’s EMO goal went upper 90 off the lefty side arm shot (3-5) narrowing the lead to two. UMass wrapped up the third quarter with a goal from Fred Federico unassisted at 4:22. Federico gave UMass the three-point edge with an over handed shot on the run (6-3).

Hofstra out shot UMass 14-4 in the final quarter. The Minutemen edged out the Pride 2-1 in the fourth. UMass scored back to back at the top of the period. Freshman Ryan Hantverk gave the Minutemen a four goal lead finding the lower right corner of the net off a pass from Hayes (13:54). Balise scored his fourth and final goal of the game less than ten seconds later off an assist from Joe Reale. Balise got the overhanded shot going high off of a quick transition (8-3) at 13:47. Neither team could convert until the final minute of regulation when Hofstra got a goal from Muscarella (4-8).

UMass advances to 1-0 while Hofstra drops 0-1. Hofstra hosts brown on March 1st at 15:00 while UMass travels to Yale on March 1st game time at 13:00.