AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass men's lacrosse team used sensational defense and a four-goal outburst from Tim Balise to top No. 17 Hofstra in the season opener for both teams on a cold Saturday afternoon at Garber Field.

UMass junior goalie Doc Schneider tied his career-high with 19 saves, as UMass the defense featuring seniors Brian Danvers, Sean Krygier, David Von Voigt and sophomore Diogo Godoi kept Hofstra at bay all afternoon. Hofstra's top five returning point-getters from last year, did not tally a goal on the afternoon.

It was an all-around team effort as junior face-off man Joe Reale won 10-of-16 draws in his first season as a starter. In addition to Balise's career-high four goals, four other Minutemen scored: Evan Blum, Fred Federico, Ryan Hantverk and Peter McNichols.

UMass jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter as Balise opened the scoring off a pass from Bobby Hayes, just 2:25 into the action. McNichols netted his first college goal 5:25 into the game after a pass from Kevin Wright for a 2-0 lead.

The Minutemen kept cooking in the second quarter, as Balise scored two more as his third of the game made is 4-1 UMass with 4:51 left in the half. Blum's late goal with 50 seconds left sent UMass into the half with 5-1 advantage.

Hofstra started to mount a comeback in the third quarter as freshman Kevin Ford scored his first two college goals to make it 6-3 UMass with 8:20 left in the third. But Federico's laser beat Hofstra's Danny Orlando and put the Minutemen back up 6-3. Schneider made five saves in the quarter as Hofstra outshot UMass 11-4.

In the fourth, Hantverk got on the board to make it 7-3 just 1:06 into the quarter. Reale won the ensuing face-off and hit a streaking Balise for the Minutemen's second goal in seven seconds and an 8-3 edge. Anthony Muscarella wrapped the scoring with his second of the game and the 8-4 final with Hofstra on the short end.

Schneider again was a standout in the fourth with seven saves, giving him 12 in the second half alone. UMass travels to Yale for next Saturday's meeting at 1:00 p.m.

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AMHERST, MA - Junior attackman Tim Balise tallied four goals and sophomore Bobby Hayes recorded three assists to lead the Minutemen of Massachusetts to an 8-4 victory over the 17th-ranked Hofstra Pride in the season opener for both teams at Garber Field Saturday afternoon. Junior midfielder Anthony Muscarella notched two goals and one assist while freshman attackman Kevin Ford added two goals for the Pride.

The Minutemen scored the first three goals of the contest as Balise opened the scoring just 2:25 into the game off a pass from Hayes, a native of Rockville Centre, NY. Freshman Peter McNichol made it 2-0 for UMass three minutes later off a pass from sophomore Kevin Wright. The Minutemen boosted the lead to 3-0 3:26 into the second period when Balise notched his second from McNichol.

The Pride got on the board midway through the second quarter as Muscarella, a Wantagh, NY native, dented the twine on a run to the cage to close the deficit to 3-1. But Balise notched the hat-trick less than three minutes later with an unassisted goal and junior Evan Blum scored off a pass from Hayes with 50 seconds remaining to give UMass a 5-1 lead at halftime. The Minutemen outshot the Pride, 17-12 in the first half.

Hofstra made some noise in the third quarter as Ford, a native of Floral Park, NY, scored his first collegiate goal 5:42 in the period, off a feed from junior Michael Colleluori, and notched his second almost a minute later, off a pass from Muscarella, to close the gap to 5-3. But UMass senior Fred Federico started a run of three straight goals with an unassisted tally with 4:22 to play in the third. Freshman Ryan Hantverk, a Long Island native from East Rockaway, scored 1:06 into the fourth, from Hayes, and Balise added his fourth seven seconds later from junior Joe Reale for a 8-3 lead. Muscarella closed out the scoring with his second of the contest with just 57 seconds remaining in the game. The Pride outshot UMass 25-8 in the second half including 14-4 in the fourth quarter. UMass junior goalie Doc Schneider recorded 19 saves in the contest including seven in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Danny Orlando recorded eight saves in the Pride cage.

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2008-02-23