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Well, we finally broke the ice on the 2003 college lacrosse season. And I mean that literally; the Fairfield University staff cleared the field, but not the bleachers. So we fans were clearing them ourselves with car windshield scrapers before someone spotted some staff snow shovels and walked across the field to borrow them. Yes, I was spotted by PutnamLax in the "Top" Row, which would be the FOURTH row in the Fairfield bleachers. Hey, Putnam, remember the scrimmage you were videotaping and everyone thought you were a Long Island scout before I let them know you were just getting some footage of your son. Once the game started, it was clear that UMass is becoming one of those programs that doesn't rebuild, they reload. They graduated quite a few key seniors last spring such as D Matt McFarland, D AJ Cappelli, A Marc Morley, A and F/O Dan Paccione and lost A and F/O Craig Conn. But the team looked as strong as ever, topping Fairfield 10-2 in 4 quarters and 13-3 after the fifth Q. UMass outshot the Stags by 32-11 and did much better on clears: 25/27 vs. 14/26. Fairfield committed 13 turnovers to UMass' 5. On man-up, it was UMass 2/5, Fairfield 0/3. Former UMass middie Tucker Kear also was not with the team, I've been told that he transferred to Butler. Good luck, Tuck and the Bulldogs. I was most impressed with UMass' defense and midfield. Matt Garcia, Tom Fallon, and Chris Gervat started at close D. Garcia made some nice takeaways, GBs, and clears. I was also impressed with their two freshman LSMs, Steve Byrnes and Jack Reid. I've seen Byrnes many times at Mahopac HS and knew what he could do, but it was the first time I've seen Reid. He had a great game, some takeaways, GBs, and handled the ball well. With his hunched back, left-handed style, he reminds me of former Princeton great Dave Morrow. The first midfield dominated their offensive plays. Chris Fiore fired high velocity rockets on the run every chance he got, finding net on 3 of them. Kevin Leveille scored twice and assisted thrice, and newcomer Chris Doyle showed speed and fit in perfectly with his two All-American linemates, picking up a couple of assists. They even used five middies on their man-up unit: Fiore, Leveille, Jeff Zywicki, Neil Lundberg, and Sean Morris with Gene Tundo the lone attackman on the unit. Morris scored the first goal of the game 5 minutes in with a hard 7-yard shot from top center while on the run, and the MU unit connected twice in the 4th Q, once by Fiore – he actually scored 1 second after the end of the penalty – and once by attackman Ryan Connolly. Hmmm, they must have changed the unit around for that last MU opportunity. The scrimmage jerseys have large numbers on the back and very small ones on the front, so it's difficult to recognize players unless their back is to you. Connolly started on attack along with Kevin Glenz and Tundo. A lefty, Connolly picked up 1-2, all in the 4th quarter. Glenz scored a goal on a nice spin dodge from side right in the 2nd Q, and Tundo didn't pick up any points but played the quarterback role from behind the cage well. Zywicki and Lundberg scored UMass' other 2 goals. Zywicki dipped his stick and backhanded his while on the run from top left to top center to make the score 6-1 in the 3rd. Freshmen Jamie Yaman, Tony Ventiquattro, and Dane Collins got UMass' 5th Q goals. Bill Schell played the first half in goal and only faced 2 shots by my count, so he'll have to wait for next week to be really tested. Derek Kunkel played the second half and made 5 saves (1 goal allowed), but Fairfield was missing their top 2 offensive players – attack Matt Buecker and midfielder Tom Werney – and didn't muster up a lot of offense, which was also due to the tight defense of the Minutemen. The freezing cold weather may also have been a factor, but if so should have affected UMass more than Fairfield. UMass was wearing shorts sleeves and pants, while Fairfield kept their sweats on. Werney is out for the year, redshirting because he tore an ACL in fall ball. I don't know why Buecker didn't play; they were both there for moral support. Attacker A.J. Califano scored a couple of goals for the Stags, one of them in the fifth quarter, which was played with reserves, running time clock, and no penalties served, just possession. Justin Geluso got Fairfield's 1st goal to make the score 2-1 in the 1st Q when he made a long range elevator shot after receiving a feed from Rick Voight. CJ Kemp made 12 saves for 4 quarters, including a couple of dazzlers. Pete Vlahakis (9-3) and Geoff Keough (6-2) were strong on faceoffs against UMass frosh Dane Collins, but Collins didn't fare as badly as the numbers indicate. None of the F/O wins were decisive, nor did they lead to fast breaks or even a quick goal or two. A standout for Fairfield was a guy who plays the thankless SSDM position, Kevin Finnerty. This kid plays that unsung position as well as any college player I've seen. Here were the lineups:
UMass : captains - Leveille, Fiore, Fallon
A --- 23 Tundo, 11 Glenz, 45 Connolly
M --- 19 Leveille, 21 Fiore, 7 Doyle
M2 -- 9 Zywicki, 25 Morris, 16 Lundberg
M3 -- 24 Tony Ventiquattro
D --- 44 Fallon, 34 Garcia, 13 Gervat
G --- 2 Schell, 20 Kunkel, 15 Scott Hinchey
F/O - 39 Collins, 9 Zywicki, 12 Scott
LSM - 37 Byrnes, 18 Reid, 17 Jake Deane
DM -- 1 Andy Kerr ? - he's listed as a goalie
33 Justin Walker, 27 Mike Nobile,
12 Greg Scott, 19 Leveille
A2 -- 10 Clay Stabert, 35 Craig Boaman, 40 Craig French
M4 -- 22 Jamie Yaman, 27 Nobile
Fairfield : captains - Tom Cook, Kris Klein,
CJ Kemp, Matt Buecker
A --- 5 Garrett Bamann, 12 Troy Bamann, 15 Califano
M --- 14 Justin Geluso, 23 Tom Cook, 34 Rick Voight
M2 -- 10 Rick Herlihy, 27 Matt Baglio, 29 Rory McCarthy
M3 -- 1 Chris Manley, 8 John Kusak, 17 Kyle Herman
D --- 2 Nate Bauers, 25 Trevor Kelly, 36 Brian Whalen
G --- 6 Kemp, 32 Brett Schmerge
F/O - 7 Vlahakis, 28 Keough
LSM - 22 Klein ; DM - 26 Finnerty, 18 Sean Flynn
D2 -- 3 Jon Shaver, 16 Peter Babbles, 59 Jimmy Judge
M4 -- 30 Ryan Catterton, 41 Steve DeVoe
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