CLICK HERE FOR WEBPAGE

http://umassathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/041409aaa.html

CLICK HERE FOR PDF NOTES

http://umassathletics.cstv.com/photos/schools/umas/sports/m-lacros/auto_pdf/041809GTown.pdf

#15/12 UMass Lacrosse Hosts Georgetown On 2009 Senior Day, Saturday At Noon

Minutemen and Hoyas have won or shared eight of nine ECAC titles.

April 14, 2009

#15/12 UMASS (7-3, 4-0) vs. GEORGETOWN (5-6, 1-3)
Saturday, April 18, 2009 • 12 Noon
Garber Field (5,000) • Amherst, Mass.
Radio: WMUA 91.1 FM (Mike Walsh & Norm Smith)
Live Video, Audio & Gametracker: UMassAthletics.com

#15/12 UMass Hosts G’town On Senior Day
• Undefeated in conference play, the No. 15/12 UMass lacrosse team hosts ECAC arch rival Georgetown on Saturday at 12 Noon. The Minutemen stand 7-3 overall with a 4-0 mark in conference while the Hoyas are having their toughest since 1989 with a 5-6 record, 1-3 in the league. Saturday will be Senior Day at Garber Field, as UMass’ class of nine will play their final regular-season game at Garber. The final regular-season home game against defending NCAA Champion Syracuse will be played at McGuirk Stadium on April 25 at 1:30 p.m. That game will be the backdrop for the “Break The Attendance Record” as UMass seeks to draw more than 12,143 fans, to break the record set in 1989.

• On Saturday’s Senior Day, UMass will honor a group that includes many players who helped UMass to the 2006 NCAA title game. Over the last four years, UMass has a 32-24 record. The Minutemen will recognize attacker Tim Balise, midfielder Evan Blum, attacker Jim Connolly, grad student attacker P.J. Hendrick, midfielder Dennis Lynch, defenseman Brennan Mack, midfielder Rory Pedrick, midfielder Joe Reale and goalie Doc Schneider.

• UMass comes off a thrilling 7-6 overtime win at Hobart, which was named the Inside Lacrosse Game of the Weekend. Jim Connolly scored the game-winner 23 second into overtime after Tim Balise tied the game with a tally as time expired in the fourth quarter. Doc Schneider made a career-high 21 saves to anchor the UMass stellar defense.

• The Minutemen have won four games in a row, all ECAC contests with an 8-6 win at Loyola (3/21), a 9-8 victory over Penn State (3/28), a 12-6 win over St. John’s (4/4), and the Hobart thriller.

• Saturday’s game will be broadcast on WMUA (91.1 FM) with Mike Walsh and UMass All-American Norm Smith calling the action. Live streaming video, audio and GameTracker will also be available on UMassAthletics.com.

NCAA Save Pct. Leader, Doc Claims 5th ECAC Honor
• Tewaaraton Trophy Candidate Doc Schneider earned his fifth ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honor on Monday after the 21-save effort at Hobart (4/11). Schneider has also earned the ECAC’s top weekly defensive honor four of the previous five weeks, winning it on March 2, 9, 23, 30.

• Schneider has risen to the No. 1 spot in the NCAA in save percentage with a 65.3 mark. He is also third in goals against average at 6.89. Both marks lead the ECAC. Schneider has been sensational in ECAC play with a 73.8 save percentage mark and a 5.23 goals against average as UMass has started 4-0.

• He picked up his fourth ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honor this week as he was honored after 15 saves in the 9-8 win over Penn State (3/28). Schneider racked up 12 saves in the pivotal second half.

• After his huge game at Loyola on March 21, Schneider was named the LaxNews College Beat National Player of the Week on March 22. He was also named the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. Schneider was sensational in Saturday’s 8-6 UMass win at #12 Loyola with a season-high 17 saves. Schneider made 11 saves in the second half as the Greyhounds peppered him all game. Schneider allowed just six goals, the fourth time this season he has allowed six goals or less in a game.

The ECAC’s Best
• UMass and Georgetown won or had a share of the ECAC title for the first eight seasons of the league since the league was formed in 2000 through 2007. Loyola broke through and won the league last season, the first time neither Georgetown or UMass did not take the crown. The Minutemen have claimed the crown in 2001, 2002 and 2005. Georgetown won the league in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007.

• The winner of the UMass-Georgetown game has won or shared the ECAC league title in seven of the nine years the league has existed including four of the last five years. Georgetown holds a 6-3 lead in the all-time series with UMass winning in 2002 (16-13), 2003 (11-8) and 2005 (13-12). The Hoyas captured the games in 2000 (19-18), 2001 (13-12), 2004 (12-10), 2006 (8-6) and 2007 (8-7). Only in 2003, did the winner not win the ECAC title.

The Series With Georgetown
• UMass and Georgetown have met each of the last nine years as members of the ECAC Lacrosse League. The Hoyas hold a 6-3 overall edge in the series. The teams have split four games in Amherst, in odd years. The Hoyas are 4-1 in games played in D.C., coming in each of the even numbered years.

• The nine games have been decided by a total of 18 goals, 2.0 per game. That includes four one-goal affairs.

• The series has been close, as three of the last four games were decided by one or two goals, including one-goal affairs in 2005 and 2007. The last four games have been decided by two goals or less and a total of four goals.

• In the nine all-time meetings, no team has won by more than four goals – last season.

• This will be the first meeting since 2001 that UMass has a higher ranking than the Hoyas, who are the first among teams “others receiving votes” this week.

• Last season, UMass goalie Doc Schneider made a then-career high 20 saves (passed last weekend at Hobart with 21) to keep the undermanned Minutemen in the game in a 12-8 loss in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas outshot UMass 61-28.

• In the last game in Amherst, No. 6 Georgetown held off a rally by UMass to win, 8-6 on April 21, 2007. No. 7 Georgetown beat No. 8 UMass, 8-6 in Washington on April 22, 2006. UMass downed Georgetown, 13-12 on April 23, 2005. The first meeting was a 19-18 thriller won by the Hoyas on April 22, 2000.

Recent Games With Georgetown
• LAST YEAR’S GAME (April 19, 2008): No. 5 Georgetown shot early and often but, UMass’ Doc Schneider was sensational all afternoon, as the Minutemen lost to the Hoyas, 12-8 on a sunny day in our nation’s capital. UMass’ junior goalie made a career-high 20 saves as the Hoyas mounted a 61-28 shots advantage. The Minutemen saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. UMass freshman Zach Rodgers had two goals and two assists and junior Tim Balise had two goals. The Minutemen’s other goals came from Ryan Bagnasco, Fred Federico, Christian Hain and Paul Manesis. Georgetown was led by All-American Brendan Cannon, who had four goals and Andrew Baird, who tallied three goals.

• LAST GAME AT GARBER (April 21, 2007): The UMass men’s lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal deficit in the third quarter to tie the game at 6-6, but were done in by a pair of Craig Dowd extra-man goals late, in an 8-7 loss to No. 6 Georgetown. With the win, the Hoyas (9-2, 5-0 ECAC) clinched at least a share of the ECAC title. After Georgetown had built a 6-2 lead just 44 seconds into the second half, UMass went on a tear to tie the game and excite the Garber Field faithful. Brett Garber tallied twice in the run including the goal to make it 6-6 with 7:33 left in regulation. He fired home a feed from fellow Brian Jacovina, who set up the final three goals in the run. Jacovina previously connected with Andrew Recchione to make it 6-5 with 12:43 left regulation. Prior to that Garber scored his first of the game with 12:12 left in the third as the Hoyas still led 6-4. Evan Blum started the run with a goal 1:58 into the second half.

Well-Rounded Offense
• The Minutemen have had well balanced scoring all season as 15 different players have scored goals. In all 14 games last season, UMass had 13 goal scorers.

• Senior Jim Connolly leads the charge with 26 goals, 2.6 per game, which leads the ECAC and is 10th in the NCAA. Connolly has scored goals in every game this season. He leads UMass with 30 points, which is 3.0 points per game, third in the ECAC and 38th in the NCAA. Connolly has points in 18 games in a row which he has played.

• With hat tricks in each of the last three games and goals in each of the last eight games, Tim Balise extended his point-scoring streak to 17 games. That dates to the last seven games of last season and the first 10 this year. He is second on the team with 21 goals and 26 points. Balise has 10 goals in the last three games including five points on four goals and an assist vs. St. John’s (4/4).

• Seniors Balise and Connolly are forming an impressive duo at attack. They have combined for 47 of the Minutemen’s 103 goals on the year (46 percent).

• Balise has three hat tricks in a row while Connolly has hat tricks in two of the last three games. Both Balise and Connolly tallied hat tricks in the wins over Penn State (3/28) and St. John’s (4/4). Balise has four hat tricks this season and 10 in his career, most recently at Hobart (4/11) while Connolly now has 11 hat tricks overall, four in 2009.

• Freshman Art Kell scored for the eighth consecutive game against Hobart (4/11) after picking up his first multi-goal game vs. St. John’s (4/4). Kell scored single goals in six games in a row after being held scoreless in his first two collegiate contests. Overall, Kell is the highest scoring freshman with 12 points on nine goals and three assists.

• Junior Bobby Hayes had points in the first eight games before being held pointless in the last two games. Hayes is third on the team with 17 points on seven goals and a team-high 10 assists.

•  Rory Pedrick scored his most recent goal against St. John’s (4/4) and has points in eight of the nine games he has played this season. Overall, he has 14 points on nine goals and five assists. He had two goals in the first two games of the season against Sacred Heart (2/14) and Hofstra (2/21).

Schneider A Super Senior
• Senior goalie and Tewaaraton Trophy Candidate Doc Schneider in the midst of a stellar senior season and will go down as one of the best stoppers in program history. He has been named to the Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-American Team as an honorable mention selection. Schneider was also named to ESPN Quint Kessenich’s Preseason Top 5 Goalies.

• Schneider has been named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week five times on March 2, 9, 23, 30 and April 14. He also was named the LaxNews College Beat Player of the Week on March 22.

• Schneider stands FIRST in save percentage (65.3) and fourth in the nation in GAA (6.89).

• Schneider has at least 15 saves in six games this season and ranks second in the ECAC in saves per game with 11.22 per game.

• He currently stands in second on the UMass all-time saves list with 674 only trailing great Sal LoCascio who recorded an unworldly 931 stops which is the most in NCAA history. He passed Don Goldstein (622) for second all-time with a season-high 17 saves at Loyola (3/21) and moved by Tom LoPresti (562) for third with eight saves at Hofstra (2/21). He became the third goalie in UMass history with 600 career saves vs. Brown (3/14) when he had 14 stops.

• Schneider was named an Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Magazine preseason honorable mention All-American prior to the season. It marks the second All-American honor bestowed upon Schneider. The first came prior to the 2007 campaign after he led the Minutemen to a magical run to the National Title Game in his freshman year (2006).

• In his first three seasons in Amherst, Schneider was one of the top goalies in UMass lacrosse history. As a true freshman in 2006, he led the Minutemen to a 13-5 record and an appearance in the National Finals after NCAA Tournament wins over Cornell, Hofstra, and Maryland. His stellar 15 save performance against the Terrapins sent the Minutemen into the Title Game where he made 17 saves against an undefeated Virginia squad. For the effort, he was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.

Defense’s Shuts Down Top Guns
• Backstopped by senior goalie Doc Schneider UMass’ defense has been stellar at shutting down some of the top scorers in the NCAA. Along with Schneider, the close defense featuring senior Brennan Mack and junior All-ECAC performer Diogo Godoi have done a great job against some of the top attackmen. They have been joined by freshman starter Travis Tripucka and freshman Greg Anderson on the backline.

• Against three of the nation’s top 25 point scorers #5 Corey Small of Albany (4.0 PPG), #6 Andrew Feinberg of Brown (3.9 PPG), and #25 Shane Koppens of Loyola (3.2 PPG), UMass has allowed just one goal — by Small — for a group that scores 10-plus goals on average.

• Against Loyola (3/21), Godoi kept Greyhound attacker Shane Koppens pointless, after he came into the game scoring 4.4 points per game. Koppens was limited to just one shot on goal. Also in that game, Mack kept Loyola’s Collin Finnerty to just one goal on a broken clear.

• Also notable, Mack, kept Brown’s Andrew Feinberg, their top scorer, without a goal in the UMass win on March 14. Feinberg is currently sixth in the NCAA in points per game (3.9) including just a single assist against UMass.

• Against Albany, UMass limited the Great Danes’ Corey Small to just a goal and assist. For the year, he is eighth in the NCAA with 4.0 points per game.

• The Minutemen also kept Harvard’s Greg Cohen without a goal in the win on March 7. Cohen averages 2.8 points per game.

Man Down Defense Dominant
• The Minutemen are ranked 11th in the NCAA in man-down defense, allowing just eight goals on 36 chances for its opponents (77.8). UMass did not give up a man-up goal in four chances vs. St. John’s (4/4). The Minutemen were not penalized at Loyola (3/21). Prior to that, UMass was a perfect 6-of-6 in killing off man-up opportunities against Brown (3/14). In four games this season, UMass has not allowed a man-down goal.

• Last year, UMass’ man down defense was fifth in the country (.806).

Gorillas At Home
• Since the 1960s, UMass has been known as the Garber Gorillas in honor of head coach Dick Garber and his first big time recruit from New York, Kevin O’Connor (1967-69). UMass has won 29 of the last 38 games spanning five years, dating back to 2004. UMass finished 3-4 in 2008 after going 4-3 in 2007 and 7-1 in 2006. It won 14 games in a row at home from 2004 through 06.

• In 2005, UMass posted a perfect 8-0 record at home tying its record for best home record without a loss at 8-0, which was set in 1981. It was the first time since 1992 UMass went undefeated at home, as it went 6-0 that season.

• Since the start of the 2001 season, UMass is 54-14 at Garber Field, winning nearly 80 percent of the games at the friendly confines.

Big Winners Over Last 8 Years
• UMass has established itself as one of the top programs in the nation. Since 2001, UMass has the seventh-most wins of any program in college lacrosse with 89 victories.

• The Minutemen have the ninth-best mark among all teams in the NCAA since 2001 with an 89-43 record for a 67.4 win percentage mark. That includes five seasons with 12 or more wins including a school record 13 wins in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. The Minutemen were second on the list coming into the 2007 season.

Lucky Number 11
• UMass has won 42 games in a row when scoring 11 or more goals after its 12-6 win over St. John’s (4/4) and a 18-6 win over Yale (2/28). Last season, UMass had one game with more than 11 games, a 13-8 win at St. John’s. The Minutemen had four wins in 2007 with 11 goals or more, beating Harvard (11-10), Sacred Heart (11-4), St. John’s (11-7) and Hobart (17-12). The streak goes back over the last seven years — meaning the last four senior classes have never lost when scoring 11 or more goals. UMass’ last loss when they had more than 11 came in the 2002 NCAA Quarterfinals, a 13-12 loss at Johns Hopkins.

• UMass had won 29 games in a row when scoring 10 or more goals, but that streak was snapped with a 11-10 loss to Hofstra on Feb. 21. The Minutemen were 29-0 when scoring 10 or more goals over the last six years. Prior to the loss at Hofstra, the last loss when scoring 10 goals came on May 1, 2004, a 17-10 loss at Syracuse.

Balise For Lowe’s Sr. Class Award
• UMass senior captain Tim Balise has been named a candidate for the 2009 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Balise was selected from the pool of NCAA Division I senior lacrosse athletes for his excellence in four areas: the classroom, his character, the community, and the field of competition.

• Balise not only led the Minutemen in scoring with 39 points on 33 goals last season, but also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American, ESPN The Magazine All-District First Team, and ECAC All-Conference Second Team. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages those leaders to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact on their circle of influence.

UMass To Join CAA In 2010
• The Colonial Athletic Association announced back in June that it will add UMass and Penn State as associate members in the sport of men’s lacrosse. beginning with the 2010 season. UMass and Penn State join the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University and Towson University to form a competitive six-team conference whose champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

• A realignment of men’s lacrosse conferences nationally – spurred by the Big East Conference and Northeast Conference’s new sponsorship of the sport – led to the changes in CAA membership. Current members Sacred Heart and Robert Morris will move to the NEC. and Villanova will move to the Big East following the 2009 campaign.

Godoi Preseason All-ECAC Team
• UMass men’s lacrosse redshirt junior defender Diogo Godoi has been named to the preseason All-ECAC team. Godoi had the strongest season of his career in 2007 when he scooped up 27 ground balls while causing a team-leading 17 turnovers. He played in all 14 games, starting 12 of them.

–