Big Green Dominate in 14-5 Victory over River Hawks

Saturday, February 29

Lowell, Mass.

1:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-0

UMass Lowell

2-4

Dartmouth

UMass Lowell

Junior Jimmy Heidt

Photo by: Belle Smart

Big Green Dominate in 14-5 Victory over River Hawks

2/29/2020 3:02:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

By: Charlotte Brackett

LOWELL, Mass. – After being down by three in the first quarter, Dartmouth men's lacrosse went on a 12-goal run throughout the next 30 minutes, ultimately defeating UMass Lowell by a score of 14-5 at Cushing Field on Saturday.

This is the first time the Big Green have started a season 3-0 since 2006 and the first win over the River Hawks since 2017.

Matt Paul had a career-high six points (5G, 1A) to lead the team. Tommy Rogan and Harlan Smart both had three points, while six other players ended up with at least one point. In net, Daniel Hincks made 10 saves to earn his career-high third win. George Christopher went in for the last five minutes and did not have to make any saves.

"We started the game slowly by going down 3-0 early, but once we settled in, I thought it was our most complete game against a quality Lowell team," head coach Brendan Callahan said. "We knew coming in that they were a gritty team and I was proud of the toughness we played with. I was impressed with defense for holding them off the board for two and a half quarters and it was good to see our scoring spread around as much as it was and see a few of our midfielders get going. Matt was the difference maker for us; he was making plays all over the field. We were solid in the middle of the field and I was excited with the way we competed at the X with Mitch and Chris on the wings with five ground balls, which was uge in keeping possessions in our favor. We turned the ball over too much at times and protecting the ball will be our focus as we prepare to face a very good Vermont team next weekend."

UMass Lowell (2-4) got scoring started two minutes into the first quarter and, by the 10-minute mark, had a 3-0 advantage. The home team lost control of the game there, and two goals by Rogan and a pair by Smart in the span of two minutes put Dartmouth (3-0) up by a score of 4-3 heading to the second.

Over the next 20 minutes, the Green took that one-goal advantage and turned it into an 8-3 edge. Liam O'Connell started the next quarter off with his second of the season 38 seconds in and Paul followed that up with a trio of tallies, the last of which was man-down, to give the visitors a comfortable lead.

Markers by Ben Martin and another by O'Connell in the third quarter made 10 straight goals for Dartmouth. A Big Green penalty with under five to go gave UMass Lowell a chance to get one back, but Hincks came through with a couple of saves to keep the River Hawks out of the net.

Paul further increased the Big Green's lead with two more tallies to make it a 12-3 contest. Having kept the River Hawks out of the net for almost 30 straight minutes, the home team got one on the board at 9:11, only to have Jimmy Heidt score his first of the season a minute later. Mike Connolly's first goal of the year put Dartmouth up by 10 again, but UML scored another 30 seconds later, the last goal of the game.

The Green had a 19-15 shot advantage. Both teams went 1-for-5 with the extra man.

Dartmouth will be on the road again next week, playing at Vermont on Saturday.