With a little over two minutes left in the game and down by one goal, the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse head coach Kyle Smith called a timeout. After a long possession, Charles Kurtz’s shot didn’t find the back of the net, quickly followed by a Delaware clearance. The Fightin’ Blue Hens (4-7, 2-2 Atlantic 10) head coach Ben DeLuca called a timeout of his own in hopes of running out the rest of the clock.
His plan failed when Jimmy Elliott intercepted Brendan Powers’ errand pass. Forty four seconds remained as Smith called the game’s final timeout. With nine seconds left, Kurtz’s shot went wide, but Jack Turowsky had one final chance to bring the game to overtime before the buzzer. Despite his best effort, Colton Silverstein saved the East Longmeadow native’s try as Delaware held on to win its third straight game.
“I thought our guys played hard,” UMass head coach Kyle Smith said. “We probably played well enough to win too, but we probably didn’t shoot well enough to win.”
A packed Garber Field watched the Gorillas (9-4, 2-3 A-10) for the final time this season as they lost 8-7 against conference foe Delaware. It was the first time these teams faced off since 2021 as the Blue Hens joined the A-10 this season.
“Anytime you play a game and it’s a hard fought game and you feel like you would have, could have, should have won but you didn’t; it’s the way it goes sometimes,” Smith said.
The match favored Delaware in the third period as they found the back of the net five times compared to UMass’ two. The Blue Hens especially dominated the back half of the period, scoring three goals.
First, it was John McCurry giving his team the 6-5 lead, followed 33 seconds later by Jack Kolbe scoring a bounce shot as he fell to the ground. Bennett Parmer also beat the goalie with an elevator shot to extend the lead to three before the quarter’s close.
Aiden Drunsic opened the game’s scoring, and the second quarter went back-and-forth. Delaware tied it at one apiece as Morgan Finn found Keegan Lathrop with an underhand pass just over a minute into the period. Later, Kurtz put the Gorillas back on top by beating his defender and placing the ball in the top left corner of the net before Powers tied it back up with a one-handed goal.
Lathrop put one into the cage again after running around the net and scoring, but defenseman Will Morse matched him by finishing a highlight reel, over the shoulder tally with five seconds left on the clock before halftime.
Silverstein proved to be a brick wall for the Blue Hens, stopping a career-high 17 shots. Including the clutch save at the buzzer, the sophomore goaltender posted a personal best 70.8% save percentage. Silverstein began the season as the backup, but has started the past six games.
“[Silverstein] made 17 saves,” Smith said. “That’s probably the difference, right? [He] played really well so credit to that kid.”
Delaware entered the game ranked No. 13 nationally in turnovers per game. Yet, the UMass defense stood tall, causing 14 turnovers compared to Delaware’s seven. Morse, Elliott, Zach Auble, Ryan Mourad and Zack Waxman all caused two turnovers each.
The last line of defense also played well as Owen Salanger made 13 saves. The New York native stopped six shots alone in the final quarter and finished with a 61.9% save percentage.
“It was a really good day from [Salanger],” Smith said. “[He’s] been pretty consistent like that all year.”
Despite their impressive back line, the Gorillas desperately missed Robbie Granara. With 25 goals on the season, the sophomore is second on the team in scores but was inactive for the matchup.
Following the game, the Mullins Center hosted former head coach Greg Cannella’s retirement ceremony. A plethora of alumni attended the celebration of the 31-year head coach.
“I think it’s really good for our guys to see the comradery, the brotherhood of it all,” Smith said. “[UMass is] a special place.”
UMass has two more games left on the schedule. Next up will be Hobart as the Gorillas travel to Geneva, N.Y. The matchup will be at noon on Saturday, April 18 and available to watch on ESPN+. It is the final conference matchup for the Gorillas.
Maxwell Solomon can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Maxwell697909.
