#15 Army Knocks off #18 UMass, Clinches Program’s 800th Win

Saturday, February 8

West Point, NY

12 PM

Army West Point

1-0

#18/19 UMASS

0-1

UMASS

Army

#15 Army Knocks off #18 UMass, Clinches Program’s 800th Win

February 08, 2020 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Highlights

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Thanks to nine unanswered first half goals, the 15th-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team knocked off No. 18 Massachusetts, 17-4, Saturday for the program's 800th victory.

The Black Knights are one of five teams in NCAA Division I history to eclipse the 800-win mark. Army is 800-394-7 through 103 seasons.

Earning his first-career start in net, Wyatt Schupler made 13 saves including 10 in the first half to boost the Black Knights to a 1-0 start on the year.

For the second year in a row, Brendan Nichtern registered seven points against the Minutemen in the season opener.

The Cadets finished the game 3-for-5 on man-up opportunities while holding UMass to 0-for-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights headed into halftime with a 9-0 lead.
Connor DeWitt started the year off with an unassisted tally 1:49 into the action.
Ryan Sposito registered his first-career goal to put the Cadets up 2-0 before Gunner Philipp found the back of the net off a pass from DeWitt.
To close out the first quarter, Nichtern posted back-to-back unassisted scores putting Army on top 5-0.
The Black Knights held the Minutemen to three shots in the first 15 minutes of action.
Nickolas Edinger returned to Army's lineup today and made an immediate impact. With 9:37 on the clock, the junior setup a man-up goal for Miles Silva to give the Cadets a 6-0 lead.
The Black Knights then scored back-to-back goals in a nine second span.
Bobby Abshire registered his first-career goal on an iso play down the left side at 4:57.
Then at 4:48, Stevie Grabher won the faceoff and dished it down to Sean O'Brien who went low to high for the tally.
Nichtern rolled the crease for an unassisted goal to close out the scoring in the first half with Army ahead 9-0.
UMass scored two goals in the first four minutes of the second half to get on the board.
Matt Manown split up the goals with a score of his own, assisted by Nichtern.
The Black Knights went on a 2-0 run to jump ahead by 10 (12-2).
O'Brien and Abshire scored on the run as Marcus Hudgins and Nichtern were credited with the assists.
UMass posted its third goal of the game with 5:55 to go in the third quarter to bring the score to 12-3 in favor of the Cadets.
Army then went on a 5-1 run to close-out the game. DeWitt sparked the run with his second goal of the contest.
The Black Knights posted two consecutive man-up scores. The first was scored by Nichtern off a feed from O'Brien and the next was the opposite with O'Brien in the scoring column and Nichtern the feeder.
Edigner set up Reese Burek's first-career goal before Chase Taylor notched his first to give Army a 17-4 edge closing out the scoring.

HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

The Black Knights are one of five teams in NCAA Division I history to eclipse the 800-win mark. Army is 800-394-7 through 103 seasons.
With today's win, The Cadets took a 15-14 advantage in the series against #18 UMass.
The team was one shy of tying the most goals scored against the Minutemen in a single contest (18) set back in 2018).
It was the largest margin of victory over UMass in series history.
Head Coach Joe Alberici is now 6-4 over the Minutemen.
It was the sixth-straight win over the nationally recognized opponent.
Schupler recorded 13 saves in his collegiate debut and notched a 4.56 goals against average and .765 save percentage.
It marked the Black Knights' first time shutting out an opponent in the first half since 2018 when Army was leading 6-0 after the first 30 minutes of action.
The Black Knights held an opponent to four goals for the second time in two seasons as Army kept Marist at bay last year with a 10-4 victory at home.
The Black Knights saw nine different goal scorers and over 50% of the team's goals were assisted.
Five players recorded multiple points in today's contest.
For the second year in a row, Nichtern registered seven points against the Minutemen in the season opener.
He posted four goals and three assists today.
O'Brien contributed four points on three goals and an assist.
DeWitt produced a career-high three points on two tallies and a helper.
Abshire finished the day with two goals, while Edinger had two assists.
The Cadets finished the game 3-for-5 on man-up opportunities while holding UMass to 0-for-5.
Manown and Hudgins each recorded three caused turnovers.
Grabher led the team with six ground balls and Tom Rigney had five.
The Black Knights outshot UMass 45-26 and held an advantage in ground balls (33-30).