Stonehill Wins 16-15 Thriller Against #16 Coast Guard
            Stonehill Men’s Lacrosse was in search of their third consecutive victory on Sunday night, as they took on #16 ranked Coast Guard Academy.  The game began slowly, with each team testing each other out. The first 6 ½ minutes were scoreless until Coast Guard finally broke the ice. The pace of the game picked up quickly from that point. Coast Guard soon built up a 3-0 lead as the Stonehill offense was clearly rattled by their high pressure defense. With about a minute remaining in the 1^st, Stonehill finally got on the board and the teams would battle back and forth the rest of the way. Halftime ended with Stonehill down by 1, at 8-7. Coast Guard scored first in the 3^rd, but then Stonehill went on a 4 goal run to take their first lead of the game. The teams exchanged goals a few more times and Stonehill was able to hang on for the 16-15 victory.
            Mike Phillips played an incredible game in goal, making 27 saves on the day. Midfielder Connor Green scored a hat trick and added an assist. The attack was led by Anthony Powers who scored an impressive 6 goals and added 3 assists. Devin Green scored 2 goals and 1 assist. Bobby Flippin scored 3 goals and 1 assist. Jimmy Barrett played very well at the face off position, starting many fast breaks and securing several key possessions for Stonehill. Nick Palen played also played well throughout the game, especially in transition.
            Joe McDonough said of the team’s impressive victory, “I’ve been saying all season that we are a much better team than our record shows. Our schedule was very top heavy and we hung close with a lot of good teams but fell short. We have been working really hard in practice to finish the season strong and today we saw that hard work pay off. Coast Guard came in ranked 16^th nationally and we know they’re always a great team. Today we were able to respond to the challenge and overcome some early mistakes that put us in a hole. There are still areas for improvement but the fact that we were able to battle back against such a strong opponent makes me very confident as we head toward playoffs.”

Men’s Lacrosse Drops First Game of Season to URI

            The Stonehill Men’s Lacrosse team played its first regular season game against URI on Tuesday, March 6.  With only a few games practice and the first in-game action since the fall for the team, Stonehill got off to a strong start against URI.  Tallying two goals in the first quarter, Stonehill took a brief lead before URI tied the score. Stonehill played URI tightly and the score was 3-3 nearing the end of the second quarter.  With just minutes to spare, however, URI scored two goals to a 5-3 halftime lead.  Every time it looked like Hill was coming back, the Rams were able to stop the momentum and hang on to the lead.  Stonehill scored two goals in the entirety of the second half to URI’s three goals, and went on to lose by a score of 8-5.                    
            Connor Green scored 2 goals and had an assist, and led the team with 7 ground balls. Freshman Jason Brierley scored his first career goal on a great transition play, while Nick Palen was solid in the clearing game.  Coach Joe McDonough said of the team’s performance, “URI played a good game today, and they were more prepared than we were; that’s what it came down to. We killed ourselves with penalties and our special teams need a lot of work. On the bright side, though, my guys played with a ton of heart and never gave up. I can’t ask for anything more on that end. We’ll just get better and better from here.”

Stonehill Suffers Close Loss to Tennessee Wesleyan

            The Stonehill Men’s Lacrosse team took on Tennessee Wesleyan in their first game during spring break. After remaining even or +/- 1 goal for most of the game, Stonehill fell behind 7-4 after giving up a 3 goal run in the 3^rd quarter. They were able to stop the bleeding and score the next two goals to bring the score to 7-6. The Bulldogs scored the next goal, but then Hill put in the next three to take the lead at 9-8 with just over 2:00 remaining in the game. After Stonehill lost possession for not keeping the ball in the attack zone, Tennessee Wesleyan was able to bring the ball down on offense and tie the game up with 0:19 left in the game. Stonehill ended regulation on a penalty kill and therefore Tennessee Wesleyan began overtime with possession. Stonehill would never possess the ball in overtime and the Bulldogs scored quickly to end the contest with a 10-9 victory over Stonehill.

            Goalie Mike Phillips had 16 saves on the day, including several from point-blank range. Connor Green scored 4 goals. Anthony Powers had 2 goals, 2 assists, and led the team with 7 ground balls. Sean Golden scored 2 goals and added an assist. Nick Giovanniello and Charlie MacDonald anchored the defense.  Coach Joe McDonough said of the game, “This loss was hard to swallow. The guys really fought hard to come from behind and take a late lead. It was my mistake not to take a quick timeout toward the end when we lost possession – we could have iced the game with under two minutes left to play. I felt my guys deserved to win but sometimes it just comes down to whoever makes the fewest mistakes and today that was the other guys. No doubt in my mind we’ll bounce back from this.”

Elon Phoenix Too Strong for Stonehill Men’s Lacrosse

            Stonehill was fighting from at least one goal behind for the majority of the game against Elon Phoneix.  However, in the third quarter, Elon went on a three goal run and, with the score 9-5, looked to be running away with the game. Stonehill kept playing hard, answering with a three goal run of their own to bring the score to 9-8. Unfortunately that would be all the Hill could muster as Elon scored the last 2 goals of the game and was able to run out the clock and hang on for the win.
            Junior goalie Mike Phillips finished the game with 13 saves. Sophomore Nick Palen did an excellent job clearing the ball in transition. Junior Sean Golden won several face-offs late in the game to keep Stonehill on offense. Senior captain Connor Green found the back of the net 5 times. His brother, freshman Devin Green, had 4 assists in the game. Defenseman Charlie MacDonald led the team with 8 ground balls.
            Coach Joe McDonough, “This was a tough game against a solid team; we had a lot of ups and downs. There were plenty of moments when I really thought we would come away with the win, but it wasn’t in the cards today. We need to do the little things and the W’s will start coming. I’m happy with what we’ve got, talent-wise and effort-wise. My players have a lot of heart and play their tails off. I’m feeling pretty confident heading back to begin our conference games.”

The Men's Lacrosse team is a highly competitive team, whose competition includes several larger schools.

A member of the DII Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League (PCLL), the team's schedule consists of games against Bridgewater State, WPI, Coast Guard, Briarcliffe (NY), Maine, Southern Connecticut, Central Connecticut, New Haven and DI PCLL teams, URI, BU, and UNH.

The team plays all of their home games on the turf at WB Mason Stadium, one of the finest athletic facilities in the Northeast.

In May 2009, Hill Lacrosse won the DII Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse league championship and was subsequently invited to the national championships in Denver, CO.