UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., April 2, 2005 - The Penn State men's lacrosse team (2-5, 1-1) lost its first Eastern College Athletic Conference game of the season to Massachusetts (6-2, 1-1), 18-8, in Amherst, Mass. Freshman Max Van Arsdale (Rochester, N.Y.) scored his first two goals as a Nittany Lion. Penn State took its first and only lead of the game eight minutes into the first quarter on a goal from midfielder Patrick Heim (Wayne, Pa.) to give the Lions a 2-1 advantage. The Minutemen responded with four consecutive goals to close the opening quarter with a 5-2 lead.

Jeff Zywicki and Chris Doyle each tallied two goals for UMass. Massachusetts stormed out in the second quarter scoring four unanswered goals to take a 9-2 lead. Doyle completed a hat trick in the quarter while Sean Morris notched his 20th goal of the season for the Minutemen. Penn State was shutout in the quarter managing only two shots and three ground balls. Senior captain Will Jones (Annapolis, Md.) opened the scoring in the third quarter tallying an unassisted goal at the 13:10 mark to bring the score to 9-3. Massachusetts went on another rally scoring four straight goals before Van Arsdale stopped the run with an unassisted goal at the five-minute mark. Brian Jacovina notched a goal with 55 seconds remaining but attackman John Eremus (Rosemont, Pa.) responded with a goal at the 30-second mark on an assist from attackman Will Cutler (Vienna, Va.). UMass led 14-5 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.

The Minutemen outscored Penn State in the fourth quarter 4-3. Attackman Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.) scored a goal on an assist from Scott Gehnrich (Garden City, N.Y.) to increase his scoring streak to 34 games. Van Arsdale and Heim both tallied unassisted goals for the Nittany Lions in the final five minutes of play. Rory Pedrick scored his first career goal as a Minuteman at the 1:45 mark to bring the final score to 18-8. Goal keepers Chris Courteau (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Josh LaGrow (Skaneateles, N.Y.) combined for seven saves while Massachusetts goalie Bill Schell finished with four saves. The last time a team has scored 18 or more goals against the Nittany Lions came in 1999 when Duke was victorious over Penn State 22-9.

The Lions will next be in action on Tuesday, April 5 when they host Mount Saint Mary's at 7:30 p.m. Penn State will then return to conference play when Hobart visits University Park on Saturday, April 9 at 1:00 p.m.