AMHERST — The players had barely dried off from the rain that pelted them for much of the second half Friday before their focus shifted.
The 11-9 win over Delaware was firmly in the rearview mirror for UMass, which clinched the top seed in the Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Lacrosse Tournament with the triumph. The Blue Hens as well as Drexel and Towson will have to make the trip to Garber Field this week to battle it out for the CAA’s automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. It is the same situation that occurred last year when the Minutemen won the league and the right to host the conference tournament, eventually beating Towson 12-8 to punch their ticket to the national tournament.
Yet the home-field advantage and the perks that entail were the furthest things from the players’ minds in the aftermath of Friday’s victory. They were pleased with the success and the bonus of playing the tournament in Amherst, but a veteran squad that has played in the last two CAA title games knows the location doesn’t matter when it comes to the conference tournament.
“It’s nice to have some of the same routines that we have at home,” senior defender Isaac Paparo said Friday. “Ultimately, we’re going to be facing a great team no matter who we play. Home field doesn’t mean anything.”
Statistically, the Minutemen have a point. In the first 18 years of the CAA, the team that hosts the championship game has won just eight of the 17 contested – there was no tournament in 2002 – and the numbers have stayed consistent since 2013 when the top seed began hosting the entire tournament. The host school didn’t win the tournament in the first three years of the arrangement before winning the last three tournaments entering this week.
UMass has won the tournament both times it’s been the top overall seed – in 2012 and 2018 – and they are the only two CAA championships the Minutemen have won since joining the conference in 2010. They have won 10 straight games against CAA foes at Garber Field, too, but that only adds to the emphasis UMass has on its preparations for the tournament this week.
“Obviously playing a game on Garber is exciting and it’s great, but home-field advantage doesn’t mean much,” redshirt junior midfielder Billy Philpott said Friday. “We still have to prepare all week, have a great (weekend) and then go from there.”
Coach Greg Cannella said it’s a good thing that his veteran team is ignoring the pitfalls of being the home team and the top overall seed. He said it would be very easy for his team to relax and rely on its familiarity with the surroundings to help lift them to the title. Instead, the team has doubled down on its focus entering the tournament knowing one play might end their season prematurely.
“Our league is so competitive that if you feel like ‘Ah, we’re playing at home, it doesn’t matter, we don’t have to prepare or come out intense,’ Drexel will kick our butt,” Cannella said Monday. “They jumped out on us and were up 6-2 at half when we played them in March, we were fortunate to scratch that game out in the end. It’s a really healthy attitude to have. This is a totally different game than March, it’s a totally different game than last year when we played Hofstra in this spot. It’s about preparing the right way and getting yourself ready to play.”
UMass will play No. 4 Drexel in the semifinals on Thursday at 5 p.m. followed by second-seeded Towson against third-seeded Delaware at approximately 7 p.m.