UMass lacrosse: Minutemen fall to No. 1 Richmond, 14-4, in Atlantic 10 semifinals

The No. 1 seed in the Atlantic 10 men’s lacrosse tournament looked every bit the part against No. 4 UMass on Thursday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Richmond erupted for seven goals in the opening quarter, and held the Minutemen to just one score in each frame to defeat the Minutemen 14-4 in the semifinal round. When these two teams met in the regular season, Richmond came out on top 14-5. The Spiders will look to claim their second Atlantic 10 tournament title in three years when they take on the winner of No. 2 High Point and No. 3 Saint Joseph’s on Saturday.

Caelin Lewis netted a hat trick for UMass, converting half of his six shots to lead the Gorillas’ offense. Zack Waxman added the other Minutemen goal, while Aiden Drunsic and Trace Hogan dished out assists. Goalie Ryan Mazzariello made 10 saves while Owen Salanger stopped one shot as both saw action on Thursday.

A whopping 12 different Richmond players scored goals, led by Gavin Creo and Leo Caine’s two apiece. Richmond put 25 shots on goal to UMass’ 14 and came up with 29 ground balls to the Minutemen’s 22. One of the biggest differences in the game came in the face-off circle, as UMass came up with only six out of the 22 total draws. Richmond won the other 16.

UMass finishes its season with a 9-5 record. Despite UMass joining the Mid-American Conference as a full member in all sports, the Minutemen men’s lacrosse team will stay in the A-10 as an affiliate member. The MAC doesn’t have men’s lacrosse.