UMBC

Head Coach Kristy Hartman Mumma and the Retrievers host six home games in 2005.

Baltimore, Md.-UMBC field hockey coach Kristy Hartman Mumma released the team’s 2005 schedule, as the Retrievers search for their first America East conference victory in three years. With only six home games, the fewest since 2000 when the program became a varsity sport again, the team will face demanding travel requirements.

After opening the season on the road at Towson on Aug. 31, then traveling to Longwood on Sept. 4, the Retrievers head to College Park, Md., for a showdown with national powerhouse California-Berkeley on neutral turf. The Golden Bears finished the season ranked 17^th in the NFHCA poll.

The Retrievers finally play their first home games Sept. 10 and 14 when they host West Chester and Lehigh, respectively, on the turf at UMBC Stadium.

Another highlight of the 2005 schedule comes on Sept. 25, when UMBC hosts Appalachian State. The last two times the team has faced off, the games have gone into overtime. In 2003, the Retrievers won 3-2 on penalty strokes, but the Mountaineers got their revenge last year, winning 3-2 in double overtime.

“Having them at home on our field is a great advantage,” Hartman Mumma said. “Appalachian State is always tough. It’s a good warm-up for [conference play].”

The Appalachian State game is the midway point on the Retrievers’ season and the last before America East league play begins Oct. 1 at Vermont. The Catamounts have defeated the Retrievers by one goal in both of the teams’ meetings.

UMBC also hosts Boston University and Maine in conference action, while traveling to Albany and New Hampshire. With perennial America East powerhouse Northeastern, which had won the last four league championships and 10 of 14 overall, moving on to the Colonial Athletic Association, Hartman Mumma says the conference has opened up.

“With Northeastern gone, it changes the conference dynamics,” she said. “Northeastern was dominating the league, so conference play will be even closer this year. It’s a good opportunity to finally get our first conference win.”

The Retrievers close out their regular season Oct. 29 at New Hampshire. Last year, UMBC scored four unanswered goals in the second half, but their comeback attempt fell just short, as the Wildcats won 5-4.

The America East Championships are Nov. 4 and 6, with the top four teams in the league battling for the conference title. UMBC has never advanced to the postseason.