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News Release

Ryan Smith Named America East Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week; Retrievers Rise to No. 6 in National Rankings

4/14/2008

Cambridge, Mass.--For the second time in three weeks, UMBC junior attackman Ryan Smith (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex) has been named America East Conference men’s lacrosse Player of the Week. Smith recorded a UMBC season high eight points with a career best five goals and three assists in UMBC’s 14-10 win over Albany on Saturday night.

The win was UMBC’s seventh in a row and has propelled the 8-3 Retrievers to a school-record No. 6 ranking in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll. 

Smith produced points on five consecutive UMBC scores in the Retrievers’ 6-0 run in the second half and was credited with the game-winning 11^th goal. He leads the team with 23 goals and is tied for 30^th in the country in goals per game (2.09). On Saturday, he scored five times on just seven shots and also leads the UMBC regulars with a 42.6% shooting percentage. The former junior college All American also earned the league honor on March 31 after a three-goal, two-assist effort in a 14-12 win over Stony Brook.

The Retrievers have reached the No. 9 slot in the USILA poll on three occasions; in March of 1999, in April of 2003 and one week ago. UMBC is also ranked No. 6 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll.

UMBC can clinch a share of the America East regular season title and the opportunity to host the league tournament with a victory over Hartford this Saturday. The Hawks have lost three America East games by a combined nine goals. Seniors David Coker, Conor Devlin, Terry Kimener and Taylor Marino will be honored in a pre-game ceremony and the game will be televised on ESPNU and WMAR-TV (ABC2).

Notes: The seven-game winning streak for UMBC is its longest since a school Division I-high eight straight wins in 1999… UMBC now leads the overall series vs. Albany, 5-3, breaking a two-game Albany winning streak… The Retrievers have won ten straight at home, the nation’s second longest home winning streak behind Duke’s 17 in a row… UMBC has also won ten straight America East home games and is 21-4 all-time in league play… Kimener has 122 career points and is now UMBC’s second all-time leading midfield scorer… Marino became just the second player in school history to win over 100 draws in three separate seasons for the Retrievers and needs eight more victories to become the second player in school history to win 400 draws.