Freshman attack Chris Connolly (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored a career-high six times and senior attack Buddy Carr (Exeter, N.H.) added six points via five goals and an assist as Massachusetts thwarted a pair of Hartford comeback attempts for a 17-13 victory at Garber Field on Saturday afternoon. The win improved the Maroon and White to 4-4 on the season while the Hawks dropped to 2-4. Freshman Kevin Tobin (Reading, Mass.) added a goal and three assists from his spot on the first-line midfield. Tobin's position-mates Jake Lisauskas (Derry, N.H.; two goals) and Jeff Trainor (Billerica, Mass.; two goals, two assists) fueled the UMass offense as the top midfield group provided 10 points combined on the day. Two additional Minutemen had multi-point outings as sophomore midfielder Charlie O'Brien (Chelmsford, Mass.) and junior close defenseman Isaac Paparo (Westport, Conn.) dished a pair of assists each. Junior midfielder Ben Spencer (Danville, Calif.) scored once while freshman attack Clayton Proctor (St. Davids, Pa.) and senior long-stick midfielder Shane Rinkus (Pembroke, Mass.) dolled out an assist apiece. In addition to his assist, Rinkus tallied a career-high-tying seven groundballs from his spot and caused a turnover. Paparo led the Minutemen with two caused turnovers, both pass interceptions, and corralled four groundballs. Noah Rak (Norwich, Conn.) dominated the faceoff dot for the third consecutive game to the tune of a 21-of-27 outing and 17 groundballs. Rak won six of the eight faceoffs in the first quarter as the Minutemen squeaked ahead, 4-3 by the first break. Carr had two of the team's opening four goals, while Connolly and Lisauskas contributed one apiece. During the second quarter, Rak improved upon his numbers and went 9-of-11 during the stanza as Massachusetts stretched its lead as large as five midway through the frame. Carr secured the hat trick only 10 seconds into the quarter on a feed from Trainor. The Minutemen needed only 18 seconds more to make it a 6-3 margin as Connolly converted on a transition play from Paparo. Following a Trevor O'Brien goal for the Hawks, the Maroon and White rattled off back-to-back-to-back tallies. Connolly added his name to the hat trick committee with his third of the day and 11th of the season at the 13:10 mark. Carr then potted his 20th on the year with 11:56 to go before Spencer reared back and fired in a man-up goal with 10:09 to go. However, the Hawks responded with five of the next six goals and, in the process, closed within 10-9 early in the third quarter. Connolly stopped the Hartford comeback try with back-to-back scores midway through the third, his fifth and sixth conversions of the day. His second in the series came during a man-up situation with six minutes to go in the third, during which Trainor found Connolly from X and Connolly ripped a shot from distance by Hartford goalie Ryan Vanderford. Tobin, Lisauskas and Carr helped Massachusetts increase their lead to 15-10 with 6:31 left as the three Minutemen scored in succession, separated only by a Rion Davison tally. Hartford cobbled together another comeback try, supported by back-to-back Feiner tallies and Justin Huggins' second goal of the day, as the Hawks moved back within 15-13 at the 2:01 mark. In need of a steadying force on offense, Trainor stepped up and iced the outcome with back-to-back goals during the final 74 seconds of game action. His second was during a man-down situation, where Trainor found space in the middle during a clear attempt and caught the Hartford goalie out a position for an open look at the cage. Massachusetts led in shots, 43-28 and groundballs, 39-17; while Hartford turned the ball over 15 times to 13 committed by the Minutemen. The Maroon and White went 10-of-12 on clear attempts while Hartford was 14-of-18. Vanderford finished the day with 11 saves. Hampton Brannon (Atlanta, Ga.) secured the win - his third of the season - with six stops for the Minutemen. The Maroon and White cap non-conference play with their next game, a Sat., March 24 tilt at Brown. First faceoff is slated for Noon and the contest will be broadcast on NESN and NESNplus. Follow the team on Twitter (@UMassMLacrosse) and Instagram (@UMassMLAX).