AMHERST — The UMass men’s lacrosse team secured its first win over a No. 1-ranked team in program history, upsetting Yale, 13-10, at Garber Field on Saturday.
UMass coach Greg Cannella said he prepared the team for the game as he would any other game and stressed trying to maintain an even keel with his players.
“It’s not the biggest game of the season,” Canella said.
“It was because it was today’s game, and the biggest game of the season will be on Tuesday against Albany. That’s how we treat things. We don’t say ‘Hey, the Yale game because they’re number one, we have to play differently’ because we’re not. I think that’s a bad message you send to your players if you do that.”
Billy Philpott led UMass with a career-high four goals and sparked the Minutemen as they jumped out to an 11-2 halftime lead, igniting the home crowd.
UMass trailed 1-0 but scored six straight. Jack Geiger tied the game with his first goal of the season. Gabriel Procyk made it 2-1 before Philpott and Jeff Trainor alternated scoring the next four goals.
Freshman goaltender Matt Knote played like a veteran, stopping three point-blank shots in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter to secure the victory. He stopped 12 shots in the game.
“He’s been really good and really consistent for us all year, and we’re gonna hold him to that standard,” Philpott said. “We expect that out of Matt Knote now.”
Despite the massive halftime lead, Yale showed why it was No. 1 in the second half. Yale scored four consecutive goals in the third quarter, and three more in the final quarter to keep the Minutemen on their toes.
“It feels like every other win,” Cannella said. “We have a game on Tuesday so we gotta get back to work in a couple of hours.”
The Minutemen (3-2) host Albany at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at Garber Field.