Balanced Attack Lifts Men’s Lacrosse Over UMass
WEST POINT, N.Y. – A smothering defense and a balanced scoring attack helped the Army lacrosse team earn a 9-5 win over UMass in its season opener on Friday afternoon at Michie Stadium.
Army (1-0) was led by rookie Nate Jones, who recorded three points on two goals and an assist. Cole Johnson and Ted Glesener contributed to the win with a goal and an assist each.
Rookie AJ Barretto earned the start to become the first rookie goalie to start since Rick Aguilar in 1991. Barretto finished with only three saves as he got a lot of help from his defensive unit. The Army defense gave up only 16 shots and combined for nine caused turnovers. Tim Stackpole was all over the field and caused a career best five turnovers.
“I got the nerves out early after all the time practicing in the fall and winter,” Barretto said. “I thought I played alright. Our defense played really well and I barely faced any shots, but they allowed me to see most of the shots. There were a couple I could have got, but it’s over and move onto the next game.”
The Minutemen (0-1) got a team-high two goals from Ben Spencer, while Ben Bianchin and Grant Cosoletti pitched in with two points on a goal and an assist. D.J. Smith got the start in net and made four saves in the first half before Dan Dolan came in and stopped nine in the loss.
The Black Knights took the first lead of the game with a goal from Glesener scoring from the alley with an assist to Johnson. UMass answered on the next possession with Spencer getting the Minutmen on the board with 5:41 left in the opening quarter. Army regained the lead late in the frame with Shea Mullins tallying his first of the year with a nice individual effort to give the Black Knights a 2-1 lead at the end of one quarter.
Dalton MacAfee gave the Black Knights a 3-1 lead early in the second quarter with a shot that had eyes for the net. He was being checked as he let go of the shot and somehow he got it off. The ball went through traffic and bounced past Smith for his first collegiate goal.
The teams traded goals to end the second quarter as Jake Lisauskas cut the Army lead to one at 3-2 with 8:33 to go in the quarter. Dan Grabher fired back on the ensuing faceoff by winning it and going beating Smith to give Army its two-goal lead back at 4-2 at the half. The goal came 20 seconds after Lisauskas tally.
Jones gave Army a three-goal advantage early in the second half with his first of his career to make it a 5-2 game. UMass then went on a 3-0 run to tie the game at 5-5 with 14:04 left in the fourth quarter.
The Black Knights clamped down defensively for the final 14 minutes and scored the final four goals to earn the 9-5 victory. Moore and Jones got the run started with back-to-back tallies coming less than two minutes apart to regain the lead at 7-5. Conor Glancy and Cole Johnson finished off the game two tallies in the final two minutes and Army had a win in its second-straight season opener.
Army’s dominance showed on the stat sheet with a 43-16 shot advantage. The Black Knights won the ground ball battle by a 40-24 margin.
Grabher was 8-for-12 at the faceoff, while Alex Daly made his return to the lineup after missing most of last season to injury and looked comfortable with five wins on six faceoffs.
Army is back in action next weekend for a pair of home games. The Black Knights host Rutgers next Saturday, followed by a Sunday matchup against VMI.
Beyond the X: Army won its 74th season opener in its 99-year history … it was the 760th all-time win for the Black Knights … second-straight season opening win over UMass … Minutemen own the series lead at 14-11 after Army’s win today … Coach Alberici is 2-3 against the Minutmen … AJ Barretto was the first rookie goalie to start a game since Rick Aguilar ’94 did in 1991 … Aguilar made six stops in his debut … Reaves Klipstein had a career-high seven ground balls … Tim Stackpole had a career-best five caused turnovers as the LSM … Dalton MacAfee, who also plays hockey at the Academy had a goal in his first career game.
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