Previous Men’s Lacrosse home game. Photo by Colin Tsuboi (He/Him) / Mass Media Staff.
The Masters may have taken place a couple weeks ago, but the masters of the mullets are still tried and true as the spring 2023 season rolls on. Men’s lacrosse has continued to turn the heads of fans, though this time around, not only did they put their offensive prowess on display but their grit and resilience too.
The Beacons pulled off a boisterous fourth quarter comeback against the Mass Maritime Academy Buccaneers Saturday, April 8 (1), and went on to trample Southern Maine and their Huskies Tuesday, April 11 by 21 goals, the final score being a 29–8 Beacons win. The victory solidified Head Coach Tyler Low’s legacy in men’s lacrosse’s storied program, as the Beacons’ historical win was the 100th of his career (2).
The men’s lacrosse game against the Buccaneers was a wild one, and when the final buzzer sounded, the Beacons steered clear of a loss through some last minute heroics. The game itself consisted of multiple runs that kept shifting momentum between the two teams; the Buccaneers shot out of a cannon early with a 3–0 lead, all of them coming in a span of 98 seconds. After a Connor Smith goal put the Beacons on the board and cut the deficit to two, the Buccaneers responded with a goal of their own with 35 seconds left in the quarter. Luke Murphy quickly responded with a goal 13 seconds later, but the first quarter ended in favor of the Buccaneers, 4–2 (3).
The second quarter was a back and forth battle between the two teams. The Beacons fired away with three unanswered goals to begin the frame—one by Jacob Banks and two straight by Gavin Admirand—and took their first lead of the night, going up 5–4 with 11:08 to go before the half (3). However, the Buccaneers fought back with four unanswered goals of their own to take an 8–5 lead with 3:47 left before the break. Banks buried his second goal of the game with 2:44 left until the half, but the score remained that way heading into the midway point of the game. The Beacons had some work cut out for them (3).
Entering the third quarter, the Beacons put their foot on the gas pedal, one-upping the Buccaneers’ four unanswered goals with five unanswered. Banks’ goal near the end of the first half was the first of the five goals scored, which were soon followed by two goals by Nolan Beauregard, one by Admirand that secured his hat trick on the night, and a goal by Carson Meczywor (3). With 4:42 left in the third, the Beacons reached out to a 10–8 lead, but the Buccaneers finally answered the call and matched the Beacons’ five unanswered goals. Mass Maritime scored four goals in the final 4:08 of the third quarter, and after scoring a fifth unanswered goal 57 seconds into the fourth, a 13–10 lead for them helped set up a wild finish at James Cotter Field (3).
The Beacons cut the lead to 13–11 off of a Charlie Chapman goal with 12:16 remaining in the game, but the Buccaneers responded just 19 seconds later to extend their lead to three once again. It was at that moment the Beacons took matters into their own hands, and Smith led the way in doing so. He scored three straight goals in the span of four minutes and 34 seconds to tie the game up at 14 with 5:19 to go. The Buccaneers broke the tie 59 seconds later, and with 4:20 left, they took the lead again. Smith and the Beacons did not back down, and 28 seconds after Mass Maritime scored, Smith buried his fourth goal of the quarter, tying the game at 15 apiece (3).
Now tied up with 3:52 left, the Beacons ran away with the game; Banks’ third goal not only secured a hat trick for him, but also a win for the Beacons. With 3:23 remaining, the Beacons got out to a 16–15 lead, and Admirand’s fourth goal with 2:54 left iced the game for UMass Boston. The team got out to a 17–15 lead, and the score would remain that way until the clock hit triple zeros (3). It was a hard fought, gutsy win for the Beacons that showcased great teamwork, and Smith’s clutch playmaking and scoring in the fourth helped set up a colossal comeback for them. It seemed like no team could stand in the way of UMass Boston, and their wave of terrific play tied over into their next game against the Huskies.
In their match against Southern Maine, the Beacons continued their hot play against conference opponents, and the end result was one many could predict based on their success against the Little East Conference (3). The Beacons hounded the Huskies, outshooting them 89–22 in the game (2), and within 12 minutes played, UMass Boston jumped out to a 6–0 lead with Admirand and Banks leading the way, each scoring two goals up to that point. Smith and Jacob McNeany also contributed to the outburst, and while everything was looking up for the Beacons, the Huskies went on a scoring spree themselves, cutting the lead to two with 9:45 left in the second (4).
The Beacons quickly responded, scoring four unanswered with the help of Admirand’s third and fourth of the game, as well as some insurance goals from Chapman and Timothy Sullivan. A pair of goals netted by Beauregard and Banks to end the half gave UMass Boston a 12–5 lead after two, with Banks and Admirand each having a hat trick midway through the contest (4).
Opening up the third quarter, the Huskies scored to make it 12–6, but the Beacons retook control after Admirand, Sullivan and Meczywor added three more goals in favor of UMass Boston. By the end of the third quarter, the Beacons had their second 6–0 run of the game to extend their lead to 21–6. Admirand scored two of the six goals while Smith, Banks, Murphy and Mic Flynn served up the Huskies’ defense to net the other four.
To end the game off, Meczywor scored his second of the contest, while Adrian Fielosh, Greg Wolff and Jamie Lin also found the back of the net to help the Beacons reach 25 goals on the day. Wolff and Lin’s goals came in the final 1:34 of the game (4). The Beacons’ 25–9 win, in turn, created a special night for Head Coach Low, who is now 48 wins away from being crowned the all-time wins leader in program history (4).
The Beacons have been just about as unstoppable as any team can be over the past couple of weeks, and there seems to be no signs of the team putting their foot on the brake any time soon. Men’s lacrosse’s win against Mass Maritime proved that even when times get tough in games, their determination to execute is on point, and has helped them progress their already outstanding play.
If the Beacons’ flame doesn’t burn out and they keep the same intensity as they have in games prior, then it’s safe to say that this team has more than enough potential to go above and beyond in the upcoming LEC tournament. If all goes according to plan and the Beacons’ success against their LEC opponents stays the same, then it’d be all the more likely that the road to the LEC championship will be making some stops to James Cotter Field in the near future.