No. 12 Men’s Lacrosse Opens 2026 With 14-8 Win Over UMass

Saturday, January 31

West Point, N.Y.

11 a.m.

Army West Point

1-0, 0-0

Massachusetts

0-1, 0-0

Massachusetts

Army West Point

No. 12 Men’s Lacrosse Opens 2026 With 14-8 Win Over UMass

January 31, 2026 | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The No. 12-ranked Army West Point men's lacrosse team (1-0, 0-0 Patriot League) began its 2026 campaign on Saturday with a 14-8 win over the Massachusetts Minutemen (0-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10) in the Foley Athletic Center.

Eight members of the Black Knights' squad found the back of the net with a career-high five goals for sophomore Hill Plunkett, followed by freshman Gus Bell and sophomore Brayden Fountain with two goals each.

Army dominated the scoresheet with 29 shots on goal to UMass' 19, 16 faceoffs won to UMass' seven, and 28 groundballs to UMass' 14.

Senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne made the start in goal for Army, earning 11 saves against the Minutemen to help the Black Knights start the season with a win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The two teams took time to settle into the action in the Foley Athletic Center with only three goals scored in the first quarter.

The Black Knights scored the first goal of their 2026 season just under three minutes into the action as Hill Plunkett circled around from the back of the goal to rip a shot from the right side of the goal.

Massachusetts equalized at the eight-minute mark, but junior attacker Mike Harney scored with 45 seconds left on the clock to push Army back into the lead as the first quarter closed out.

The Minutemen put the first shot on goal of the second half 74 seconds into the second quarter, but the Black Knights scored first as Brayden Fountain buried a shot just after the 13-minute mark for an unassisted goal.

Massachusetts repaid the favor 30 seconds later but Hill Plunkett's second goal of the day four and a half minutes into the quarter put Army ahead by two once more.

The Minutemen struck again at the 9:40 mark to pull within one goal of Army once again.

The two defenses locked things down as the second period wore on until the Massachusetts offense found a chink in the Black Knights' armor to bring the game tied at four goals each with 3:45 left on the clock in the second quarter.

Brayden Fountain scored just before the 12-minute mark to push Army back into the lead, but the Minutemen would equalize the game once again with just under two minutes on the clock.

The Black Knights put the pedal to the metal in the final 90 seconds of action, ripping three goals in less than a minute as Cal Lambert, Keagan Treacy, and Hill Plunkett each found the back of the net to give Army an 8-5 lead heading into halftime.

Massachusetts answered the challenge as the second half began, scoring their sixth goal of the day just 13 seconds into the third quarter before Army found its stride once more as Hill Plunkett scored his fourth goal of the day four and a half minutes into the third frame.

Despite a series of extra-man opportunities for both teams, Army earned the next goal as Plunkett buried his fifth goal of the day after a quick set up from Tyler Clark with five and a half minutes left in the third to put Army ahead 10-6.

The Minutemen scored their seventh goal of the day to send the game into the third quarter break 10-7 in Army's favor.

Freshman Gus Bell scored his first collegiate goal off of a pass from Evan Plunkett 63 seconds into the final quarter of play before sophomore Ben Calabrese scored his first collegiate goal two minutes later.

Massachusetts fought to close the gap, but the Black Knights held off the visitors for the next nine minutes until the Minutemen scored their eighth goal of the game with three minutes remaining on the clock.

Gunnar Fellows scored his 85^th career goal with two and a half minutes left in regulation but Army's final goal of the game came from Gus Bell on the assist from Hill Plunkett with 80 seconds on the clock to give the Black Knights a 14-8 lead that held through the final whistle.

BLACK KNIGHT NOTES

Hill Plunkett(5), Gus Bell (2), and Brayden Fountain (2) led Army's offense against the Minutemen in goals scored. Plunkett led all Black Knights with seven points from five goals and two assists.
Hill Plunkett led all players in shots on goal with nine of his 11 shots landing on-frame.
Three Black Knights logged caused turnovers in the contest with one each for Evan Plunkett, Ben Calabrese, and Hill Plunkett.
Robert Simone led Army in ground balls with nine, followed by CJ Monturio with four.
Simone and Caleb Caldwell took to the faceoff x for Army where Simone went 12-of-19 and Caldwell won four-of-four faceoffs against the Minutemen.
Senior goalkeeper Sean Byrne logged 11 saves against UMass with eight goals allowed for a .579 save percentage.