Providence, RI - Junior goalie Jordan Burke made 16 saves, including 14 saves over a scoreless span of 48 minutes and 19 seconds from the first to the fourth quarter, to lead the Brown (3-2) men's lacrosse team to a 4-3 victory over UMass (2-3) at chilly at Meister-Kavan Field.

The four goals scored by the Bears were the fewest goals scored in a Brown win since 1933 when the Bears toppled Springfield by a 4-3 margin.

Playing in heavy wind and temperatures near freezing, the two New England schools battled throughout. The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by senior Jeff Hall, but the Minutemen quickly responded on goals by Tim Balise and Evan Blum, to grab a 2-1 advantage with 11:00 left in the first quarter.

Sophomore Thomas Muldoon scored on a pass from Matt Shakespeare with 3:44 left in the quarter to even the score, 2-2, and sophomore Zach Caldwell gave Brown the lead for good on an unassisted goal with just nine seconds left in the first quarter.

Bears' junior Jack Walsh scored what proved to be the game winner with 6:57 remaining in the second quarter to give Brown a 4-2 lead.

Burke took over the game, making one spectacular save after another and keeping the Minutemen at bay, as UMass out-shot the Bears by a 38-27 margin. He finally allowed a man-up goal, Balise's second of the game, with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter, after keeping the Minutemen scoreless for more than 48 minutes.

UMass had the ball in Brown's end in the frenetic last minute of play, but Bears' senior Brian Asher came up with a loose ball with 11 seconds remaining and fired the ball down field to preserve the win for Brown.

The Bears will open up their Ivy League season next Saturday, March 22, hosting Dartmouth. Game time is 1:00 p.m.

* * * *

Providence, R.I. - Brown's Brian Asher knocked the ball away from UMass' Bobby Hayes with 12 seconds left in the game to help the Bears preserve a 4-3 win over the Minutemen. UMass' Tim Balise had scored his second goal of the game with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter to get the Minutemen within a goal. Brown advances to 3-2 on the season and UMass falls to 2-3.

UMass outshot Brown, 38-27 on the day. The Bears goalkeeper, Jordan Burke, played very well in goal, making 16 saves. UMass limited Brown to just eight shots on goal all afternoon as the defense was strong yet again.

Five of the games seven goals were scored in the first period. Brown's Jeff Hall opened the scoring and Balise tied it for UMass just seven seconds later on a fast break after UMass won the faceoff.

The Minutemen took their only lead of the game, when Evan Blum scored his fourth goal of the season with 11 minutes left in the first quarter. Peter McNichols assisted. UMass then went better than 46 minutes without scoring.

The Bears would score three unanswered goals, scored by Thomas Muldoon, Zach Caldwell, and Jack Walsh, to build a 4-2 lead at the half. Neither team scored in the third quarter.

Balise's second goal of the game, coming with 7:31 left in the game, broke a string of 14 straight saves by Burke.

UMass' next game is Tuesday March 18 at Sacred Heart at 3:00 p.m.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  2  0  0  1 -  3
Brown...............  3  1  0  0 -  4
 
Attendance: 917
 
Massachusetts SCORING:
GOALS: Tim Balise 2; Evan Blum 1.
ASSISTS: Peter McNichols 2; Zach Rodgers 1.
 
Brown SCORING:
GOALS: MULDOON, Thomas 1; HALL, Jeff 1; CALDWELL, Zach 1; WALSH, Jack 1.
ASSISTS: SHAKESPEARE, Matt 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  8  8  8 14 - 38
Brown...............  9  9  3  6 - 27
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  4  4  3  7 - 18
Brown...............  8  3  5  7 - 23
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  4-6   1-2   1-1   0-2  -  6-11
Brown...............  2-6   1-2   0-1   2-2  -  5-11
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  2-2   4-4   5-5   3-7  - 14-18
Brown...............  7-7   6-6   6-6   2-4  - 21-23
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  0-0   0-1   0-2   1-2  -  1-5
Brown...............  1-1   0-1   0-0   0-0  -  1-2
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Massachusetts.......  1  1  0  2 -  4
Brown...............  3  6  4  3 - 16
 
PENALTIES - Massachusetts 3/3:00; Brown 6/5:30.

2008-03-15