Providence, RI - Junior goalie Jordan Burke made 16 saves, including 14 saves over a scoreless span of 48 minutes and 19 seconds from the first to the fourth quarter, to lead the Brown (3-2) men's lacrosse team to a 4-3 victory over UMass (2-3) at chilly at Meister-Kavan Field.
The four goals scored by the Bears were the fewest goals scored in a Brown win since 1933 when the Bears toppled Springfield by a 4-3 margin.
Playing in heavy wind and temperatures near freezing, the two New England schools battled throughout. The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior Jeff Hall, but the Minutemen quickly responded on goals by Tim Balise and Evan Blum, to grab a 2-1 advantage with 11:00 left in the first quarter.
Sophomore Thomas Muldoon scored on a pass from Matt Shakespeare with 3:44 left in the quarter to even the score, 2-2, and sophomore Zach Caldwell gave Brown the lead for good on an unassisted goal with just nine seconds left in the first quarter.
Bears' junior Jack Walsh scored what proved to be the game winner with 6:57 remaining in the second quarter to give Brown a 4-2 lead.
Burke took over the game, making one spectacular save after another and keeping the Minutemen at bay, as UMass out-shot the Bears by a 38-27 margin. He finally allowed a man-up goal, Balise's second of the game, with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter, after keeping the Minutemen scoreless for more than 48 minutes.
UMass had the ball in Brown's end in the frenetic last minute of play, but Bears' senior Brian Asher came up with a loose ball with 12 seconds remaining and fired the ball down field to preserve the win for Brown.
The Bears will open up their Ivy League season next Saturday, March 22, hosting Dartmouth. Game time is 1:00 p.m.
