UMBC

Nine UMBC men’s lacrosse players earned All Conference honors at the America East Conference Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Banquet held in Albany, N.Y.

Senior attackman Drew Westervelt, senior defender Travis Begay and junior midfielder Terry Kimener all earned First Team All America East honors. Senior attackman Andy Gallagher, sophomore midfielder Alex Hopmann and sophomore defender Bobby Atwell were named to the Second Team All Conference, while freshmen attackman Cayle Ratcliffe, midfielder Kyle Wimer and long-stick midfielder Mike Camardo were named to the All Conference Rookie Team.

The award is Westervelt’s fourth in four years from the conference, as he earned All Rookie Team honors in 2004 and Second Team honors in 2005 and 2006. He is currently second in the conference in scoring with 54 points in 13 games and has climbed to fifth on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 189 points. Begay has started all 28 games at close defense since coming to UMBC last season and has solidified a young Retriever backline. Kimener has now earned back-to-back First Team honors and followed up his 41-point season last year with 32 points in 2007.

Gallagher earned his second league honor, after a first team selection in 2005. He is fourth in the conference with 3.08 points per game and has climbed to 13^th on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 135 points. Hopmann and Atwell have emerged as key players this season. Hopmann has scored 14 goals and 20 points, while Atwell shifted to close defense this season and caused a team-high eight turnovers.

Ratcliffe has scored 31 goals and was a four-time conference Rookie of the Week. He is the fourth-leading goal scoring freshman in the country. Wimer contributed eight goals and ten assists, while Camardo stepped in and did an outstanding job at long stick midfield, tying Atwell with eight caused turnovers.

The second-seeded Retrievers, who tied Albany for the regular season America East crown, take on third-seeded Binghamton at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.