– Sophomore Jeff Trainor's career-best four goals and freshman Chris Connolly's five-point afternoon helped University of Massachusetts men's lacrosse hold off the Brown Bears for a 14-12 win at Stevenson-Princince Field on Saturday afternoon. After the Minutemen led by as many as eight goals in the opening half, the team used transition play and timely defensive stops to stave off the Bears as Massachusetts won for the fourth consecutive time and improved to 5-4 on the season. Connolly (Glastonbury, Conn.) split his team-high five points between two goals and three assists. It marked Connolly's third game with five or more points on the season – all earned over the last five contests. Trainor's four tallies doubled the Billerica, Massachusetts, native's previous one-game best, which he achieved eight times as a Minuteman. Buddy Carr (Exeter, N.H.) and Jake Marino (Harrison, N.Y.) added three-point outings. Carr scored twice and dished an assist while Marino converted once and found Connolly and Jake Lisauskas (Derry, N.H.) for a pair of assists. Hampton Brannon (Atlanta, Ga.), Isaac Paparo (Westport, Conn.) and Shane Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) keyed the defensive effort for Massachusetts. Brannon set a career-high with 15 saves, including five in the pivotal fourth quarter. Paparo finished with three caused turnovers and as many groundballs from his spot on close defense. Rinkus also scooped up three groundballs and added a pair of caused turnovers. Jesse Leung (Brookline, Mass.), Lisauskas, Billy Philpott (Sandwich, Mass.), Ben Spencer (Danville, Calif.) and Kevin Tobin (Reading, Mass.) rounded out the UMass scorers at Brown. Noah Rak (Norwich, Conn.) won 13 faceoffs and scooped up 10 groundballs for the Minutemen, his fourth consecutive game with a double-digit groundball total. After Brown converted first, only 11 seconds in, the Massachusetts defense held the Bears scoreless for more than 10 minutes as the Maroon and White offense put together a three-goal run. Nick Panepinto's tally put the Bears in front early; however, Philpott, Spencer and Trainor tallied once each for a 3-1 lead with seven minutes, one second remaining in the initial quarter. Trainor's first of three in the half started the streak, which Philpott highlighted with a spinning, underhand bounce shot in transition. Spencer's 15th career extra-man goal capped the quick run. Jake Miller broke the streak for Brown, but Massachusetts followed with six more tallies as the visitors extended their lead to 10-2 midway through the second quarter. Massachusetts spread the tallies over five Minutemen, with Trainor the lone multi-goal scorer of the group. In the process, Trainor completed the first half hat trick during the six-goal run. He scored unassisted with 13:19 to go in the half and capped the run on a feed from Carr nearly seven minutes later. The Bears closed the second stanza with back-to-back goals and pulled within 10-4 of the Minutemen entering halftime via goals by Stephen Hudak and Carson Song. Brown built upon the lead early in the third quarter with two more tallies as Hudak converted again after Panepinto found the back of the net. Carr and Connolly offset Brown's quick-strike offense and pushed the lead back to six at 12-6 with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Bears were relentless in their comeback attempt – with six of the final eight goals – and they closed their gap to within two during the final frame. Hudak's fourth tally of the day capped a three-goal run by Brown spanning the third and fourth quarters and eased the Bears within three of tying, 13-10, with 12:38 still to play. After nearly 10 minutes of back-and-forth, scoreless action, Trainor responded to Hudak and matched Hudak's scoring total via the successful end to a physical play. Trainor cradled possession near the far sideline, absorbed a check to the face as he split a double-team and raced toward the cage unguarded. Brown's defense slid to compensate, but Trainor fired in a low shot before a hit by the Bears sent him crashing to the Stevenson-Princince Field turf. The Maroon and White begin Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) on the road at Drexel on Sat., March 31. Lax Sports Network will broadcast the contest live with first faceoff set for 1 p.m.