Men’s Lacrosse: UMass hands No. 10 Ohio State its first loss

Kyle Burns
Sat, 15 Feb 2020 22:13:27 +0000
Lacrosse, News, Sports, Big Ten, Buckeyes, Connor Mitchell, Evan Riss, Gabriel Procyk, Grant Mitchell, Griffin Hughes, Jack Myers, Jackson Reid, Jeff Henrick, Josh Kirston, Justin Inacio, lacrosse, Lucas Buckley, men's lacrosse, Minutemen, Nick Musci, Nick Myers, ohio state, Ohio State lacrosse, Ohio State men's lacrosse, Ohio State UMass lacrosse, Ryan Terefenko, Tre Leclaire, umass, UMass lacrosse

Ohio State junior attackman Tre Leclaire (44) runs to break his defenders against Rutgers at Ohio Stadium on Mar. 31. Ohio State lost 6-14. Credit: Willow Mollenkopf | For The Lantern

A five-goal game-closing run by UMass men’s lacrosse was the difference Saturday at Ohio Stadium.?

The Minutemen (1-1) handed No. 10 Ohio State (2-1) its first loss of the season 9-7 after the Buckeyes led 7-4 late in the third quarter.

UMass sophomore attackman Gabriel Procyk engineered the comeback with three goals, including a behind the back shot in the fourth quarter to bring the game within one.?

Procyk scored the game-winning goal on a man advantage.?

“We had chances, coming into the fourth quarter we had to close, and just didn’t do the little things in the fourth quarter we need to do to be successful,” Ohio State head coach Nick Myers said.?

The game started off slow. Both teams had plenty of chances to score in a hard-fought first quarter, but nine combined saves by the goalies kept each team off the board.?

Early in the second quarter Ohio State freshman midfielder Grant Mitchell stole the ball on the ride and dusted off the game’s first goal, his fourth of the year. The Minutemen were able to quickly equalize on a goal by freshman attacking midfielder Mike Tobin.?

Freshman midfielder Connor Mitchell fired in a shot on the man advantage to put the Buckeyes back on top in the second quarter, but two unanswered goals put the Minutemen up 3-2 heading into halftime.

The Buckeyes came out hot to start the third, with senior attackman Tre Leclaire scoring his ninth goal of the season to tie the game up. Mitchell followed with his second of the game to put the Buckeyes in front 4-3.?

Procyk’s first goal of the game evened the tally once again.?

A pass from Ohio State sophomore midfielder Johnny Wiseman led to the first of two goals for junior midfielder Griffin Hughes. Hughes scored his second shortly after to put Ohio State up 6-4.

Ohio State junior attackman Jackson Reid capped off the explosive third quarter with? his seventh goal of the season to put the Buckeyes up three, before UMass junior midfielder Kevin Tobin scored to open the late game run.

UMass senior midfielder Jeff Trainor sealed the game for the Minutemen.

UMass freshman goalie Matt Knote stopped 14 shots in the game, with a .667 save percentage.?

Myers said there is room for improvement in all facets of Ohio State’s game moving forward.?

“We have to improve in every area,” Myers said, “Our half field offense is something we have to continue to improve, seven goals won’t win you many games.”?

Redshirt junior goalie Josh Kirson continued his strong start to the season with 13 saves.

“He played great, he’s doing his job, he’s been a bright spot for us early in the season,” Myers said.?

Ohio State travels to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to take on Bucknell University at noon Saturday.?