UMass lacrosse: Richmond pulls away from Minutemen in A 10 semifinals

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Staff Writer

Published: 05-04-2023 11:32 PM

Richmond put the ball in the net 37 seconds into its Atlantic 10 men’s lacrosse semifinal against UMass on Thursday and never looked back.

The second-seeded Spiders defeated the No. 3 Minutemen 15-8 on their home field in Virginia to reach the first-ever A-10 men’s lacrosse championship game. They’ll face No. 4 High Point, which upset top-seeded Saint Joseph’s in the first semifinal, at noon on Saturday.

Richmond (10-4) led 4-1 after the first quarter. UMass (8-6) pulled within 4-3 thanks to goals from Jack Wittmaack and Mike Tobin to open the second frame, and the Minutemen got as close as 5-4 on Tobin’s second goal with 6:13 to halftime.

The Spiders scored eight consecutive goals across the next 12:06 and put the game out of reach.

UMass finally ended the dry spell as Tobin notched a hat trick with 5:11 remaining in the third quarter to make it 13-5.

Tobin led UMass with three goals and an assist. Shane O’Leary found the net twice for the Minutemen, while Gabriel Procyk and Will Abbott (assist) added one goal each. UMass’ Carter Castillo contributed an assist.

UMass goalie Matt Knote saved 16 shots.

Dalton Young led Richmond with five goals and three assists.

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CONFERENCE AWARDS – The Atlantic 10 named Knote the league’s first men’s lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday ahead of the conference tournament semifinals. The Minutemen faced Richmond in Game 2, which ended after print deadline. Check Gazettenet.com for details.

Knote was also a first-team All-A-10 selection and a member of the all-academic team. He led the nation in save percentage at .681 and led the league in goals against average (8.89, No. 3 in the country) and saves per game (13, No. 14 in the country). The A-10 named him the conference defender of the week four times, and Knote was named USA Lacrosse Magazine Division I Player of the Week after UMass' win over Army

Defender Chris Campbell joined Knote on the first team, while senior attack Mike Tobin and redshirt sophomore face off specialist Caleb Hammett were selected to the second team.

Campbell caused 13 turnovers and picked up 22 ground balls.

Freshman midfielder Zach Auble was a part of the All-rookie team.

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