Marist men’s lacrosse (2-1) could not match the offensive firepower of UMass Amherst (2-1) on Tuesday afternoon losing 18-11. The Red Foxes trailed by as many as eight goals and were out of reach by midway of the third quarter.
UMass spread the wealth on offense with four minutemen recording a hat-trick and eight scoring a goal en route to their best offensive performance of the season. Graduate attackman Carter Castillo finished with five points (3G, 2A) for UMass followed by four players with four points.
Senior attackman Joshua Balcarcel led Marist with three goals and freshman attackman Collin Patrick added two goals. The Red Foxes committed 19 turnovers and allowed 29 shots on goal.
The Red Foxes looked for their first 3-0 start to a season since 2013 after two home wins including a dramatic overtime win over Jacksonville on Saturday. UMass had received votes in the nationally ranked polls each week of the 2024 season littered with experienced players all over the field.
Marist sprinted out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Patrick and sophomore attackmen Vinny Butrico.
The Minutemen responded with three straight goals from different players, where junior midfielder Caelin Lewis buried a bouncer with just over six minutes left in the first quarter to give UMass their first lead.
Marist freshman midfielder Christian Colantonio laced a bar-down rocket to tie the game at four with under a minute remaining in the opening quarter.
UMass began to take control, taking advantage of the Red Foxes’ sloppy play with 10 turnovers. Senior midfielder Shane O’Leary completed a first-half hat trick with a little over eight minutes left in the second quarter to push the Minutemen ahead 7-5.
Junior midfielder Caelin Lewis finished another first-half hat trick to cap a dominant second quarter for the Minutemen where they outscored Marist 7-1. The Red Foxes cooled off on offense and offered little defensive resistance to trail 11-5 at the half.
UMass looked like the more experienced and more athletic team. Junior goalie Noble Smith was peppered with shots each possession, and the Minutemen defense settled down to grow their lead.
Graduate goalie Matt Knote struggled to see the ball in the first quarter, but the preseason All-American third-team selection settled in the cage for the Minutemen to finish with seven saves.
The Red Foxes struggled to handle the offensive movement of UMass and lost one-on-one matchups on several occasions. The five turnovers in the clearing game compounded the defensive issues and gave the Minutemen second chances that they took advantage of.
To open the second half, senior attackmen Josh Balcarcel scored in the first 30 seconds to try and spark the Marist offense. On the next possession, freshman midfielder Sean Mullen netted a shot sent into the far low corner.
Freshman attackmen Charles Kurtz cashed in on the extra man to put the UMass lead back to 6. The Red Foxes hurt themselves by playing more defense than they needed to with five failed clears.
Marist looked to up the pressure by bringing an extra defender on the wing, but sophomore midfielder Zach Auble scored off the faceoff anyway to put the Minutemen in complete control, leading 15-7 with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
Balcarcel scored the Red Foxes’ first goal in 15 minutes of game time at the 13:10 mark of the final frame, but Marist trailed 16-8.
Knote reached the 600 save mark in his career with a stop on Butrico while Marist worked an extra man opportunity. Balcarcel finished a hat-trick on a diving goal with 3:08 remaining in the game, but it was too little too late.
Marist did not do themselves any favors with the turnovers and questionable shot selection. Junior face-off specialist Dylan Bedell provided the Red Foxes offensive opportunities, winning 16 of 30 faceoffs and collecting 10 ground balls, the most of any player.
The Red Foxes went 0-for-4 on man-up opportunities, unable to work for the best shot while trailing big for most of the second half.
Marist will continue their road trip with a contest against in-state opponent Hofstra University on Saturday, Feb. 24. The opening faceoff is set for 3 p.m.
Edited by Jimmy Tsiantoulas
Photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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