FINAL SCORE: Vermont 11, UMass Lowell 9
BURLINGTON, Vt. -  Vermont never trailed and held off UMass Lowell for an 11-9 America East win at Virtue Field in its conference opener on Saturday afternoon behind Ian MacKay's career-high tying seven points. The Catamounts improve to 4-5 (1-0) on the season, while the River Hawks fall to 2-8 (0-2).
 
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MacKay led all scorers with four goals and a trio of assists. With his seventh multi-point showing of the season, the junior is now tied for ninth in program history for career points scored (139). Dawes Milchling piled up four points on a goal and three helpers, while six other Catamounts added a goal in Vermont's opening league win.
 
Jon Kaplan recorded his fourth double-figure save effort of the season in net with 11 stops for Vermont, pushing his total to 22 over the last two contests
 
Keenan Koswin registered a team-best five points on two goals and three assists for UMass Lowell. Lane Austin posted a hat trick and added an assist, while Brandon Luitwieler (2g) and Sean Tyrrell (2a) recorded multi-point efforts. Freshman Grant Lardieri picked up 12 saves in goal for UML.
 
UVM jumped out to an early 6-2 lead over the River Hawks after the first quarter, as five different Catamounts put points on the board in 15 minutes. Koswin and Luitwieler each added goals to chip away at Vermont's advantage and closed out the half trailing UVM 7-4.
 
The Catamounts scored back-to-back goals to open the second half as Jack Knight cashed in on a man-up chance and MacKay completed his fifth hat trick of the season (9-4). UMass Lowell responded with a pair of scores, but Milchling dished a helper to MacKay in the final seconds of the third quarter and gave UVM a four-goal advantage heading into the final period.
 
The River Hawks found themselves within two scores of Vermont (10-8) with 10:29 remaining. Braiden Davis netted his fifth career goal with two minutes to play and sealed the Catamounts' first America East victory of the 2016 campaign.
 
Both teams won 11 faceoffs on the afternoon, while the final shots favored Vermont 38-31. The Catamounts picked up 27 ground balls in the contest and capitalized on three of six extra man opportunities.
 
Vermont returns to Virtue Field on Tuesday (March 29) to play its third game in a seven-day stretch. The Catamounts face offwith Dartmouth under the lights at 6 p.m. in the first-ever men's lacrosse night game at Virtue. All conference games, as well as home matchups can be viewed live via AmericaEast.tv.
 
Tickets to the game can be purchased online at UVMathletics.com/Tickets, in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office located in Patrick Gymnasium (M-F: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.), via the phone at 802-656-4410, or in person one hour before game time at the Gutterson Fieldhouse Box Office.
 
ATTENTION LACROSSE ALUMNI
Be sure to mark your calendar for Men's Lacrosse Alumni Weekend on April 15-16 when the Catamounts take on UMBC. Details will be released shortly. Please contact our Victory Club office at 802-656-0956 or Victory.Club@uvm.edu with any questions or to ensure that you receive the information as it becomes available.