The University of Massachusetts men's lacrosse teams scored the opening four goals and led by as many as five in the second half en route to a 13-9 victory over Sacred Heart at Garber Field on Tuesday afternoon. Buddy Carr guided the offensive effort with three goals while Carr also handed out four assists for a career-best seven points. Freshman Chris Connolly potted four goals - including two on passes from Carr - for his first collegiate hat trick. Jake Lisauskas added three points via two goals and an assist while Jeff Trainor tallied a two-point outing with one score and another distribution. Seven additional Minutemen chipped in one point apiece as Ben Spencer, Devin Spencer and Noah Rak all scored once and Clayton Proctor, Isaac Paparo, Anthony Reale and Dom St. Laurent each dished an assist. On the defensive end, Sean Sconone backstopped the team to victory - his first win as a starting goalie - with a career high 15 saves alongside one caused turnover and a groundball. Sophomore long-stick midfielder and close defenseman Dan O'Brien accounted for four of the team's nine caused turnovers - a career-high. The Minutemen eased in front with two goals during the opening 46 seconds en route to a 4-0 lead less than six minutes in. Rak scored his third of the year following the opening faceoff, which the senior from Norwich, Connecticut, won cleanly, scooped and sprinted straight toward the net for a left-side shot before Pioneers goalie Brooks Dutton could react. Lisauskas followed on the ensuing possession with his first of the season via a pass from Trainor as Massachusetts doubles its lead only 46 seconds into play. After Proctor set up Ben Spencer for a goal at the 10-minute, six-second mark, and netted himself his first point as a Minuteman, Connolly nabbed his first collegiate goal on a transition play only 44 seconds later. The fourth scoring play of the day culminated with Connolly unchallenged in his first strike at the 10-minute, six-second mark of the frame. Reale, a short-stick defensive midfielder, saw Connolly unguarded left of the cage as Reale raced up the sideline with possession and slotted a clean pass to Connolly's crosse for the 3-0 lead. The Pioneers settled in and scored three of the next for goals - separated only by Carr's first of the afternoon, as Sacred Heart closed the game to within 5-3 before the first break. Trailing by two, Sacred Heart pulled to within 5-4 early in the second quarter on Kevin Cop's first of two goals scored at Garber Field. It was as close as the Minutemen allowed the Pioneers to pull the remainder of the way. Lisauskas keyed the offense as Massachusetts distanced itself from Sacred Heart. He dished to Carr for Carr's second conversion of the day before he scored unassisted with seven minutes left in the second quarter as the Maroon and White extended the lead back to three, 7-4. The Minutemen added two more back-to-back scoring series and kept the Pioneers at bay for Massachusetts' first win of the spring. Trainor and Devin Spencer turned a 7-5 lead into a four-goal advantage early in the third quarter via scoring plays facilitated by Carr. With time winding down in the frame, UMass again hit for back-to-back strikes and sealed the win in the process. Carr's third of the day - assisted by Paparo - extended the advantage to 11-7 with 1:35 to play in the quarter. Connolly pushed the lead to five and secured himself a hat trick with a highlight-reel goal 87 seconds later. St. Laurent carried possession on the right side of the field and whipped the ball to Connolly as Connolly cut across the front of the Sacred Heart cage. In one motion, Connolly fielded the hard pass, spun over his right shoulder and sent an underhand shot behind his trailing defender and inside the left post for his third goal of the day. Connolly later added his fourth of the day on Carr's fourth helper as the Minutemen improved to 8-1against Sacred Heart and remained undefeated at home versus the Pioneers all-time. Massachusetts edged out Sacred Heart in total shots, 39-38 and forced the visitors into 16 turnovers against only nine committed by Minutemen. The Pioneers led in groundballs, 33-28 and won 13 of the 25 faceoffs. The Maroon and White return to action next against Harvard with a 1 p.m. home game on Sat., Feb. 24 against Harvard.