By SHUN HASEGAWAStaff Writer
The results of the UMass Boston men’s lacrosse team over the past week were poles apart. They trounced a Little East Conference rival University of Southern Maine (14-2) on Thursday, April 14, and then suffered an upset loss (6-8) in a conference competition with Plymouth State University on Saturday. Both games were held at the Clark Athletic Center.
UMB is now 2-2 in the LEC and stands third among seven contenders following a 10-6 victory over UMass Dartmouth and a 10-11 defeat against Keene State College the week before. The Beacons have an overall record of 7-2, thanks to a six-game winning streak to open the season from March 19 through April 9, during which the Beacons outscored their opponents by 83-31.
The defending champion Eastern Connecticut State University and Keene State stand on the top, winning all the four conference games they have played as of April 21.
On April 14, University of Southern Maine (1-6, 0-4 in LEC) provided few thrilling moments for UMB, as the home team easily outshot the visitors by 42 – 20 and shut out the Huskies for the last 32:02 of the match.
The Beacons junior attackman Patrick Donlan scored twice in the first period. Sophomore attackman Christopher Hanafin added another goal to build an early 3-1 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Chosen as the LEC Offensive Player of the Week for April 4-10, Hanafin added a couple of goals in the second period to help UMB seize five straight goals for a game-deciding 8-1 lead over the Huskies. Hanafin finished with four goals and an assist on the day and stood second in goal scoring per game (3.00) in the conference as of April 14.
Sophomore attackman Matt Ficarra had two tallies, and Jonathan Ruiz sank another goal for UMB in the second. Southern Maine managed to net once, which turned out to be the last for the visitors. UMB never lowered its guard, adding four more goals in the second half to deliver a brisk weekday return trip for Southern Maine, 14-2.
Saturday’s game against Plymouth State University (4-6, 1-3 in LEC) was a surprising blow, considering a 0-3 conference mark by the Panthers who were then bogging down in a four-game losing streak. The loss also meant that UMB failed to secure a win over an underdog at home before playing two important conference away games against Western Connecticut State University (tied with UMB at 3rd) and Eastern Connecticut, who has been victorious in every conference game this century.
Despite the negative final score, UMB still gave spectators a glimpse into why they had been ranked first in the conference in goals per game (12.6) when sophomore attackman Ryan O’Rourke scored twice to offset a 4-2 deficit after the first period, with his 47th and 48th points of the season (top of the conference).
Plymouth State answered with three goals in a row spanning the second and third periods to go up with a fatal 7-4 edge. Donlan and Andrew Rowley countered with a goal apiece, but the visitors held on to the lead, with a finishing score of 8-6.
The Beacons are scheduled to play a non-conference match before they will travel to Danbury, Connecticut to take on Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, April 23.