UMBC

Stony Brook, N.Y.—The UMBC men’s lacrosse team ran its winning streak to five straight and earned a tie for the regular season America East Conference title with a convincing 13-5 win over host Stony Brook before 2,073 fans on the final contest of the regular season.

The Retrievers improved to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in America East play,while Stony Brook fell to 8-4, 2-3. UMBC will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming America East Tournament and will face No. 3 Binghamton (4-8, 3-2) in the first semi-final game on Thursday, May 3.

Junior Terry Kimener led all scorers with four points, scoring three goals and adding an assist. Senior Andy Gallagher and freshman Cayle Ratcliffe added three goals each, while senior Drew Westervelt (2g, 1a) and sophomore Alex Hopmann (1g, 2a) each posted three points in a balanced attack.

It is the third straight year that UMBC has won or shared the regular season league title.

The host Seawolves, who honored 12 seniors before the game, sprang out to a 2-0 lead at the 8:08 mark of the first quarter. But UMBC would go on a 7-1 run over a span of 10:35 to take a 7-3 advantage. Junior Terry Kimener tied the game at 3-3 with 5:15 to play in the second quarter, then Westervelt gave the visitors the lead for good converting a Kelvin Moulden pass on a fast break just 65 seconds later. Gallagher scored on a man-up goal at 2:14, and Kimener closed a frantic first quarter with a score 55 seconds later as to give UMBC a 6-3 lead after 15 minutes.

Ratcliffe capped the run with an unassisted tally 2:30 into the second quarter.

But the UMBC offense stalled, as they managed just one score over the next 32 minutes. They led, 8-4 at halftime, but USB scored the lone goal of the third quarter and had several opportunites to cut the gap to two goals. But UMBC dominated the fourth quarter, as Gallagher scored a critical goal at the 9:56 mark, finishing a Terry Kimener feed. Then the younger Kimener redirected a Hopmann pass from the doorstep and gave UMBC a 10-5 advantage with 6:44 to play.

Downt the stretch, Ratcliffe scored twice and Gallagher added another the Stony Brook high-pressure defense could not get the ball from the Retrievers.

The five goals allowed by UMBC is the fewest permitted this season. Sophomore netminder Jeremy Blevins was outstanding in the UMBC net, as he made 12 saves. UMBC committed only nine turnovers and outshot the Seawolves, 43-28.

UMBC is not 8-4 all-time vs. the Seawolves and 18-4 all-time in America East Conference play.