Heading into April, University of Massachusetts Boston’s Head Lacrosse Coach Tyler Low helped lead the Beacons to one of the best starts in the history of the program. After five seasons as the coach, Low’s vision of developing the Beacons into a top Little East competitor is finally coming to fruition.
“We’ve been performing great as a team this year. We are just trying to take everything game by game and focus on the task at hand,” said the sixth year coach. “Having said that, we do have some long-term goals for ourselves. The main team goal this season is to win the Little East and earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.”
Before the Beacons can reach their goals, they need to focus on their LEC opponents.  Prior to the game, Low stated that their first LEC match-up has been “circled on the calendar all year.”
April 2, against Keene State College, marked the first in conference test for Low and his Beacon squad. Entering Saturday’s match-up, the Beacons held a record of 7-2, with just a two goal differential in the pair of losses, while a struggling Keene State was only 4-3 overall. Despite Keene State’s recent struggles, historically they are the top team in the Little East, winning several LEC Championships in the past five years.
During the game, Keene State managed to edge out the Beacons 18 to 9 at UMass Boston. Keene State’s defense managed to hold Beacons star Calvin Lee to a goose egg in the goal scoring column for the first time on the year. Despite the loss, several young Beacon players had solid performances on the attacking end, including Sophomores Conor Smith and Matthew Duggan. In defeat, Smith managed to find the back of the net four times, while Duggan snatched himself a hat-trick.
While there were glimpses of magic, the Beacons still need to reestablish their rhythm moving into the remainder of their conference games. With six LEC games left on the calendar, UMass Boston needs to reestablish its momentum in order to make a solid postseason push. Little East postseason seeding is almost solely based off of conference standings. Despite the great record, the Beacons still have zero conference victories.
Moving forward, UMass Boston needs to regain strength in their back line. According to Low, other than Lee’s tremendous play, the defense has been one of the most crucial elements to the team’s early success.
“Offensively Calvin [Lee] has been incredible for us, but a lot of that comes from the defense. In practice they push [Lee] everyday with effort and toughness,” said Low. “In practice and especially in games, defensively we have been extremely effective. Much of our success is credit to our defensive work rate.”
On April 9, the Beacons travel to play their next Little East opponent, Plymouth State University. The Beacons are heavy favorites in the away game against the Panthers. While the Panthers still haven’t played an LEC opponent, they have earned an overall record of 1-5. The match-up should prove to be an easy victory for the Beacons side.
After losing several recent games, the Beacons are in desperate need of rebuilding their confidence. With just seven games to go, the Beacons still have six Little East Conference games left on their schedule. An early win against a weak-sided Plymouth would help trigger some positive momentum moving into the final stretch. Hopefully Coach Low and his Beacons can get back in top form as they close out the year.