The UMass Boston’s men’s lacrosse team started their season with two home games; one against Clark University Cougars which ended in a 12-7 win Feb. 25, and the other against Hawks of University of Hartford which resulted in a 7-5 win March 1.
The first match started slow with the Cougars netting their shots and the Beacons later attempting to bridge the gap. The Cougars opened the first quarter with a 2-0 lead. The Beacons were visibly struggling at the hands of the Cougars in the first quarter when their shots on the goal went unanswered. Graduate player Patrick Carey opened the score board for the Beacons. But this wasn’t enough as they ended the quarter with a 4-3 Cougars lead.
The second quarter saw fired-up Beacons ready to claim their home field. Carey scored his second goal of the game and successfully leveled the field for the team with a 4-4. This game saw three hat tricks from three different players, who made their mark in program history. Veteran player Carey was at the apex of this, followed by freshman Jack Schartner and senior Timothy Sullivan. This gave the Beacons their much-needed lead.
In addition, another graduate player, Seth Libby, led in assists, supporting the teams’ star Beacons. The Cougars offense proved to be a thorn in the Beacons defense, but sophomore goalkeeper James Boldy stood strong, making it hard for the Cougars to score. The Cougars’ goalkeeper posed a threat to the Beacons’ offense. This was instrumental in securing their 12-7 win.
Schartner stated, “It feels great to be out here, work hard and practice. It feels good to get our first win. We came back in the huddle. Put our focus back in and went out there and won the game”.
Hat-trick netter Sullivan later added, “I thought they [Cougars] were a good team; they had a few games already so they had some time to become cohesive and get the camaraderie. It’s a little different for us, because its our first game back so we are still figuring things out. They are a strong team. We just found a way to be better than them. It felt great; its my last season so definitely want to give it my all.”
The second game saw more seasoned Beacons. Junior Caesar Hendricks was a scoring machine for the team as he netted a hat trick in the first quarter, giving the Beacons an early lead.
The team heads into the second quarter with a 3-1 lead. The second quarter saw junior Matt Hutchings’ first goal of this season. After this the Beacons took a back seat on the offensive end as the Hawks registered three consecutive goals. Their momentum was cut short by Libby who was assisted by Carey and sophomore Patrick Dwinnells giving the Beacons a 5-4 lead.
The third quarter was scoreless for both the teams as Boldy and the Hawks goalkeeper competed against each other. The Hawks were left winded against Boldy’s bold saves. The fourth quarter ended with Dwinnells’ second goal of the game and the team successfully secured its 7-5 win.
Head coach Tyler Low stated, “We are trying to take it day by day. We made big jumps from the fall to now, and we are just focusing on getting better and better. The freshman have been a great addition culture-wise, they come from a place of humility. They have done a great jobbing in understanding what it means to play Beacons lacrosse”.
Low recently served as the assistant coach for Premiere Lacrosse League for the New York’s Atlases. He commented on that, saying, “It was a great opportunity; I am really grateful for that. It was a great learning experience. I am excited to turn the focus back to the Beacons now. I think [what] I learnt the most is the professionalism in terms of how they handle themselves of the fields. I certainly think it is great value for us here. I am planning on bringing a lot of that back to the program.”
The team, under the guidance of head coach Low, promises a successful season for the Beacons ending with a title win.
Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the player who scored a hat trick for the Beacons in the first quarter. His name is spelled Caesar Hendricks, not Caeser Hendricks. The article also misstated his grade. Hendricks is a junior, not a freshman. (March 12)
