UMBC

Princeton, N.J.-The UMBC men's lacrosse season came to an end as the seventh-seeded Princeton Tigers (11-4) defeated the Retrievers, 11-8, in the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament held at the Class of 1952 Stadium. UMBC's six-game winning streak came to an end, while Princeton will advance to the quarter-finals to take on the winner of Maryland-Denver. The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 first quarter lead and UMBC had to play catch-up for the rest of the game. It seemed as though the Retrievers struck first, but an apparent goal by senior attackman Brendan Mundorf was disallowed as he was determined to have been in the crease. Mundorf drew a foul on the play, but UMBC was unsuccessful on the extra-man. Princeton's Whitney Hayes put the Tigers on the board first at the 4:42 mark and the hosts would score three goals in a span of 1:50 late in the first quarter. PU netminder Alex Hewit was brilliant early, repelling three one-on-one chances by UMBC early in the second quarter. Finally, junior attackman Drew Westervelt got UMBC on the board with 2:27 to play in the first half, and linemate Andy Gallagher scored 74 seconds later to cut he deficit to 4-2. However, Princeton got a key goal to end the half as Tommy Davis scored with nine seconds remaining to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead at the break. UMBC freshman middie Alex Hopmann opened the third quarter with an unassisted tally to shave the deficit to 5-3. But the Tigers would go on a scoring run of 4-1 and led, 9-4 at the 3:51 mark of the final stanza. Hopmann scored back-to-back goals to give UMBC life at 9-6 with 4:53 remaining, but Princeton won the crucial next face-off and Davis made a gambling Retriever defense pay with the tenth Tiger goal with 3:49 to play. Hopmann produced his first career three-goal game for UMBC, while Davis led Princeton with three goals. Andy Gallagher was the only other Retriever with multiple points as he posted a goal and an assist. Princeton won the critical face-off battle, 14-9, including taking 10 of 14 in the first three quarters. UMBC outshot Princeton, 37-32, as Hewitt made 11 saves for the hosts, while UMBC freshman netminder Jeremy Blevins stopped 12 PU efforts. It was UMBC's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1999.