UMBC

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team (0-3) battled #1 Johns Hopkins (2-0) in frigid conditions at Homewood Field and came up just short, falling 9-6 to the Blue Jays.

The Retrievers have lost three games by a total of six goals.

UMBC never led, but matched JHU’s first two goals with first quarter scores by Brendan Mundorf and Andy Gallagher. But the Jays scored their second man-up goal of the first quarter to take a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes and held the Retrievers off the board until intermission, taking a 5-2 lead at the break.

Johns Hopkins extended the lead to 7-3 after three quarters, but UMBC scored three times in a span of 4:21 early in the final stanza. Joe Cahill, Mundorf and freshman midfielder Terry Kiminer brought the Retrievers to within one goal, and UMBC had a man-up opportunity to tie the game with 6:15 to play. But UMBC never got a shot off, and JHU’s Kyle Harrison scored an insurance goal with 3:24 remaining and the Jays added an empty net goal with 1:19 left to seal the win.

Mundorf tallied a hat trick for the third straight game, and added an assist for a four-point night. Gallagher and Cahill contributed a goal and two assists each. Netminder Kevin Cepelak keyed UMBC’s late surge by making 12 of his 14 saves in the second half. Face off specialist Corey Warner was also outstanding, winning 11 of 19 draws against the nation’s deepest face-off group.