Brian Caufield's Season-High Seven Points Leads #24 UAlbany Men's Lacrosse Past #13 Massachusetts - UAlbany Sports 2009

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. – Freshman Joe Resetarits scored a career-high five goals, including two in the decisive fourth quarter, to lead UAlbany to a 12-9 victory over nationally-ranked Massachusetts on Tuesday, March 10 at John Fallon Field.

The Minutemen, who are rated No. 13 in the latest USILA poll and No. 14 by Nike/Inside Lacrosse, took an 8-7 lead with 4:02 left in the third quarter when senior attack Jim Connolly scored his third goal of the game with the man-advantage. The contest featured five ties and three lead changes.

UAlbany (3-1) drew even one minute and 14 seconds later when Resetarits rolled inside from right of the cage and scored on a shot that deflected off goalkeeper Doc Schneider and went into the net. The Great Danes went ahead, 9-8, with 59 seconds left in the quarter. Brian Caufield, who had three goals and four assists, picked up defensive midfielder Stephen Zorkers’ pass that was intended for the goaltender and scored from right in front of the crease.

In the fourth quarter, Caufield gave his team a two-goal advantage as he tallied from straight away in an extra-man situation. Massachusetts (3-2) closed the gap when Ryan Marcus connected from the left side off a diagonal pass from Bobby Hayes with 3:12 remaining. The Great Danes pulled away with a pair of goals one minute and five seconds apart. Resetarits drove around the front of crease and underhanded a shot from the right side after Caufield had kept the play alive by collecting a loose ball. Resetarits added an insurance goal when he beat a defensive double-team.

“This has been a great rivalry and we are pleased how we played after the first quarter,” said UAlbany coach Scott Marr, who has seen the last five meetings in this series come down to a one-goal decision. “We tightened down and went back to our base defense. Brian (Caufield) and Joe (Resetarits) were more involved today and it’s nice to have that balance.”

The Minutemen, who were coming off a four-goal win over No. 11 Harvard last Saturday, leaped to a 4-1 lead after one period. Connolly scored twice in the quarter, before Tim Balise found the net from left of the crease on a play that started when Ryan Hantverk’s shot went off the post.

UAlbany regrouped with three unanswered in the opening five-plus minutes of the second stanza. The game went back and forth and UMass took a 6-5 lead as Marcus connected off Zach Rodgers’ feed from behind the cage. The Great Danes rallied to take 7-6 advantage at the intermission. Resetarits worked around the crease and went high with a shot into the left corner to get the equalizer. Corey Small, who had eight goals in his last outing, whipped a blast from the left around a defender to give his team its first lead with 36.1 seconds remaining in the half.

“I wanted to help out more and be part of the offense,” explained Resetarits, who has 10 goals on the season. “This was a quality win and shows that we are one of the top teams out there.”

UAlbany freshman John Carroll had nine saves, including two terrific stops with his team clinging to a 9-8 lead. Dave Brock added two goals, while Small extended his scoring streak to 21 games in a row. UMass’ Schneider, a senior who led his team to the 2006 national championship final, made seven saves.

“We started to click offensively (in the second quarter),” offered Caufield, who had a season-best seven points. “We need to move forward game by game. I thought we showed a little more heart in that fourth quarter.”

-agate-

#13 Massachusetts (3-2) 4 2 2 1 - 9

#24 UAlbany (3-1) 1 6 2 3 - 12

Massachusetts – Scoring: Jim Connolly 3-0, Ryan Marcus 2-0, Zach Rodgers 1-1, Rory Pedrick 1-1, Tim Balise 1-0, Art Kell 1-0, Bobby Hayes 0-2, Evan Blum 0-1, Ryan Liebel 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): Doc Schneider (60:00, 7 saves, 12 GA).

UAlbany – Scoring: Joe Resetarits 5-0, Brian Caufield 3-4, Dave Brock 2-0, Corey Small 1-1, Rocky Bonitatibus 1-0, Joe Pompo 0-1; Goalkeeper(s): John Carroll (60:00, 9 saves, 9 GA).

UAlbany 12, #13 Massachusetts 9 (Mar 10, 2009)