UMBC

The UMBC men's lacrosse team (3-2) takes on intra-state rival Maryland (3-2) at Byrd Stadium on Saturday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. The game will be televised by WMAR-TV/ESPNU.

The Retrievers are coming off an 11-10 double-overtime win over Penn and have been buoyed by the play of America East Rookie of the Week Cayle Ratcliffe. The Canadian freshman scored six goals vs. the Quakers including the game-winner with 14 seconds remaining in the second extra period. He leads UMBC with 12 goals.

UMBC will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Terrapins. The Retrievers' last win over Maryland occurred at Byrd Stadium in 1999.

GAME NOTES

THE SKINNY:  The men’s lacrosse team are this spring’s “Cardiac Kids” as two of the team’s three wins have occured in overtime. After opening the year with a 12-11 overtime triumph over Brown, UMBC’s most recent conquest was an 11-10 double overtime thriller vs. Penn last Saturday.

O, CANADA: Canadian freshman Cayle Ratcliffe, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, tied a long-standing UMBC record with his six-goal effort in the win over Penn on Saturday. His six goals equallied Jason Smith’s six tallies in the 1991 opener vs. Marist for a Retriever freshman record. Of course, Ratcliffe got the game-winner with 14 seconds to play in the second overtime period. 

PENN RECAP: UMBC rallied from a 5-2 second-quarter deficit to lead Penn, 8-6 after three quarters and 10-8 with 54 seconds to play. But the Quakers scored twice in the final 30 seconds to send the game to overtime, setting up Ratcliffe’s heroics.

FRONT-RUNNERS: The win over Penn was UMBC’s first when trailing at halftime since a March 7, 2004 9-8 overtime win over Ohio State. UMBC did not trail a game at halftime during last year’s regular season (they were tied four times), but have now trailed at the half in the last three games.

EXTRA-TIME: In Coach Zimmerman’s tenure at UMBC, the Retrievers are 8-4 in overtime games. The 2005 team was his only other team to win twice in extra time in the same season, with victories over Ohio State and Loyola.

TIME OFF: UMBC played for the fourth time in eight days when they hosted Penn last Saturday. They will not play another mid-week affair until facing Towson on April 3.

THE POLLING PLACES ARE OPEN: After ending the 2006 campaign ranked #11, the Retrievers were ranked #11 in the pre-season USILA poll. They are currently ranked #18 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll. 

GREAT DANE IN THE MORNING: The University at Albany, winners of three of the last four league crowns, and defending conference champion UMBC have each received a total of 32 points and sit tied atop the America East Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Great Danes received three first-place votes, while the Retrievers garnered two.

TOUGH SLATE: Nine of UMBC’s opponents have been in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse top 20. This week, UMBC’s opponents are ranked  #3 (Johns Hopkins), #8 (Albany), #10 (Maryland), #15 (Towson), #20 (Stony Brook), #22 Ohio State and #24 (Brown). Denver and Penn have been ranked during the earlier course of the season.  

ON AIR:  Four UMBC games will be televised this season and at least five will be on radio. The games vs. Johns Hopkins and Vermont will air on MASN-TV, while games vs. Ohio State and at Maryland will be broadcast on WMAR-TV/ESPNU. The games set for WVIE Radio (1370 AM, www.v1370.com) are vs. Brown, Penn, Towson, Binghamton and at Stony Brook.

A LOOK BACK:The Retrievers finished the season with their first winning record since 2003...the ten wins is the most for UMBC in a season since winning 11 games in 1999. UMBC finished the 2006 season ranked #7 in man-up offense (41.7%), ninth in offense (10.33 gpg) and 13th in defense (7.93 gapg).

For the second consecutive year, UMBC captured the America East Conference regular season title on the final day of the campaign. Last season, UMBC won at Albany, 9-8, to share the league title with the Great Danes, and, on April 29, the Retrievers produced a convincing 20-9 win over Stony Brook to win the title outright. UMBC was the first #1 seed to win the tournament title since Towson accomplished the feat in 2001. Albany had won three staight America East championships. 

IN LEAGUE PLAY: UMBC is now 14-3 in two-plus years of America East Conference (regular season) play. They have held 16 of 17 teams to single digits in goals, allowing Stony Brook ten goals in last year’s 10-9 setback.

40TH ANNIVERSARY  UMBC enters its 40th season of varsity men's lacrosse with an updated record of 291-247. They are 175-182 in 26 years-plus at the Division I level.

NEED THAT RADIO/TV CHART: There are 21 freshmen on the 2007 roster and 35 of the 46 players have one year or less of Division I experience

CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Senior Drew Westervelt has moved into 10th place in UMBC history with 154 points (85-69-154). He was the sixth-leading active scorer in the nation entering the 2007 season. Classmate Andy Gallagher became the 23rd player in school history to record 100 points and he has moved into 21st place with 109 points (72g-37a). Both Retriever attackmen were named to the Pioneer Face Off Classic’s All Tournament team.

MOOD SWINGS: UMBC has outscored its opponents, 18-8 in the third quarter, but has been outscored 19-8 in the fourth quarter this year. Last season, through the first five games, UMBC was outscored, 20-4, in the final stanza of play.

TOUGH LOSSES: UMBC’s last seven losses have occured to teams all ranked in the USILA or Inisde Lacrosse top 20.

MAN UP LOOKING UP: The Retrievers scored on all three man-up opportunities vs. Johns Hopkins last Tuesday and are now 9 of 17 on the season.

YOUNG DEFENSE: UMBC held nine consecutive teams under the 10-goal mark last season, its longest streak in school history. However, five of UMBC’s last six foes have scored in double digits, capped by Hopkins’ 15-goal output last Tuesday. That was the most goals allowed by the Retrievers since a 16-10 loss at Maryland on March 19 of 2005. Before allowing 13 goals to Denver on Sunday, UMBC had gone 25 games without permitting 13 or more goals.

HOME COOKIN’: UMBC had won five straight at home until Hopkins victory on Tuesday.

SERIES HISTORY: The Terrapins lead the overall series, 23-4 and have won the last seven meetings in the series. Three of UMBC’s four wins have occured in College Park. UMBC’s last win occured by a 7-6 margin in 1999, a victory that propelled UMBC into their second consecutive NCAA Tournament. The Terps’ average margin of victory in the seven-game winning streak is 7.0 gpg.

LAST YEAR’S GAME: The top-ranked Maryland Terrapins scored four unanswered fourth quarter goals and went on to defeat UMBC, 9-4, in men’s lacrosse action before 1,623 fans at UMBC Stadium.  UMBC junior attackman Andy Gallagher scored an extra-man goal to cut the Retrievers’ deficit to 5-4 with 3:55 remaining the third quarter. Despite controlling three of four fourth quarter draws and possessing the ball for the early part of the fourth quarter, UMBC could not get the tying goal. Senior midfielder James Hyland scored two of UMBC’s four goals, while Drew Westervelt contributed a goal and an assist. UMBC won the statistical battle, outshooting Maryland, 31-30 and  taking 12 of 16 face-offs. UMBC freshman keeper Jeremy Blevins had six saves, going the route. 

PLAYER NOTES

Terry Kimener had at least a goal in 13 straight games until he was held without a score vs. JHU. He did manage one assist in the game to keep his scoring streak alive and added a helper vs. Penn to extend his scoring streak to 15 in a row. 
 
Drew Westervelt now has points in ten straight games. He has scored at least a point in 47 of the 49 games he has competed in at UMBC.

Alex Hopmann posted his three straight multi-goal games with a pair of scores vs. Albany, three vs. Princeton (in last year’s NCAA First Round) and two in the opener vs. Brown, but was held scoreless in the next three games. He must like playing the Ivies, because he broke out with a pair of goals vs. Penn. 

Goalkeeper Jeremy Blevins made a career-high 16 saves in the win over Air Force, while playing 52:15. He only allowed five of the seven AFA goals. The 14 goals he allowed vs. JHU last Tuesday the most last year’s America East Rookie of the Year has allowed in a game.

Freshmen Kyle Wimer and Cayle Ratcliffe have made an immediate impact on the offensive end for UMBC. Wimer was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week on March 5 as he scored a goal and added six assists in UMBC’s two games in Colorado. Ratcliffe earned the same honor this past week after his brilliant six-goal effort and game-winning goal in double overtime vs. Penn. He leads the Retrievers with 12 goals, all of which have occured in the past four games.

Head Coach Don Zimmerman  is guiding the Retrievers in his 14th season and has a 93-86 record at UMBC. His overall mark in 19+ seasons is 165-102. He entered the year 12th in winning percentage amongst all active coaches.    Zimmerman led UMBC to its first ever appearances in the NCAA Division I championships in 1998 and 1999. He is a 1976 graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where he was an Honorable Mention All American in 1976. He won three national titles while coaching the Blue Jays in 1984, 1985, and 1987. Coach Zimmerman was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2003.

Coach Zimmerman made his tenth trip to the NCAA Tournament and third with the Retriever last season. 

Coach Zimmerman has journeyed to Argentina to assist in the development of the game in that South American country. He has also taught the game in Europe and Asia (Japan).

vs. Maryland:  Coach Zimmerman is 9-12 (7-1 at JHU, 2-11 at UMBC) in 21 previous meetings vs. Maryland.