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News Release

Ninth-Ranked Men's Lacrosse Faces Rutgers in Home Opener on Saturday Afternoon

2/20/2009


Goalkeeper Jeremy Blevins is on the Tewaaraton Watch List

The ninth-ranked UMBC men’s lacrosse team (1-0) faces Rutgers (1-1) in the team’s home opener on Saturday, Feb. 21 at UMBC Stadium. Opening face off is set for 1:00 p.m. and live video streaming is available at www.umbcretrievers.tv.

 

UMBC is coming off an impressive 14-9 opening day victory at Delaware. The Retrievers’ midfield unit of junior Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa.) (5 goals), senior Alex Hopmann (Annapolis, Md.) (3 goals, 1 assist) and Peet Poillon (Cranberry Township, Pa.) (1 goal, 2 assists) amassed nine goals and 12 total points in the game.

 

Rutgers opened with an 8-4 setback vs. Villanova on Feb. 14, but won at Manhattan, 11-7 on Feb. 18. Kory Kelly led the Scarlet Knights with three goals vs. the Jaspers.

 

Rutgers leads the all-time series, 6-5, after a 13-4 triumph in New Brunswick last season. UMBC fell behind, 5-1 after 15 minutes and 8-2 at halftime and produced their fewest goals of the 2008 season and fewest since a 9-4 loss to Maryland in 2006.

 

RETRIEVER NOTEBOOK

 

WINNING THE TIGHT ONES: UMBC is now 14-3 in games decided by three goals or less since the beginning of the 2007 season. They have also won six straight overtime decisions in the last two seasons. In one-goal decisions, UMBC has won nine of its last 12.  UMBC is now 12-4 in Don Zimmerman’s 15 seasons in overtime, including wins in six straight.

 

HOME DAWGS: UMBC has won 13 straight home games and 18 of the last 19, with the lone loss coming vs. top-ranked Johns Hopkins in ‘07. The streak of 13 straight at home is the third-longest in the nation behind Notre Dame and Duke.

 

THE HITS JUST KEEP COMING: UMBC’s 33 wins over a three-year period is the most in the school’s Division I (1981) history and only behind 34 wins in the span from 1974-1976.

 

IN LEAGUE PLAY:  UMBC has held 21 of 27 teams to single digits in goals. UMBC has won 11 straight regular season America East home games and is 13-1 overall, with its lone loss occuring vs. Stony Brook in April of 2004. They are 23-4 all-time in America East play, including 10-3 on the road.

 

DON’T LOOK BACK: UMBC is now in its 42nd  season of varsity men's lacrosse with a record of 312-254 (.552). They are 196-189 (.509) in their 28th year at the Division I level. Before the win over Towson on April 1, 2008, the last time the program was last over the .500 mark at the Division I level was when at the end of its third season when the record was 19-18.

 

ACCORDING TO THE EXPERTS: UMBC is the preseason choice of the coaches to again claim the crown in 2009. The Retrievers received a total of 24 points and four first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their team), just ahead of University at Albany, the 2007 champion, which received 22 points and a pair of first-place votes. Stony Brook University was chosen third with 16 points, while Binghamton University was tabbed fourth with 14. University of Vermont and University of Hartford rounded out the six-team poll with nine and five points, respectively.

 

The Retrievers are ranked No. 9 (tied) in the current United States Lacrosse Coaches Association preseason poll and tabbed at No. 11 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse preseason poll. Inside Lacrosse tabbed UMBC at No. 10, its highest preseason ranking to date for the Retrievers. Coach Zimmerman’s team is set to face (preseason) IL’s No. 3 Maryland, No. 5 Johns Hopkins, No. 12 America East rival Albany, No. 13 Princeton, No. 17 Colgate and No. 20 Delaware. The Terrapins, Blue Jays, Raiders and Ohio State Buckeyes all competed in the 2008 championships.

 

NOTES FROM UMBC’S WIN AT DELAWARE: UMBC has won three of its last four season opening games…the 14 goals scored in the first game is the Retrievers’ most since a 16-7 over Mount St. Mary’s in 2003… the win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Blue Hens.

 

KNIGHTS AND DOGS 

UMBC vs. Rutgers (RU leads, 6-5)

1981                W        11-10

1982                L          9-16

1985                L          8-10

1986    A         L          8-13

1995    A         W        9-6

1996    H         W        17-5

2000    H         W        11-3

2001    A         L          7-10

2002    H         W        10-6

2003    A         L          10-11 (OT)

2008    A         L          4-13

 

HOME OPENERS: UMBC has won its last six home openers since an 11-4 loss to Navy in 2002. Overall, Coach Zimmerman is 10-5 in UMBC home openers.

 

Player Notes

Senior netminder Jeremy Blevins is expected to make his 50th consecutive start vs. Rutgers and has a career record of 33-15 in the UMBC cage. One of the team captains, Blevins leads all active netminders in the nation in wins and is now fourth on UMBC’s all-time saves list with 490. With ten saves, he would become the fourth player in school history to reach the 500 mark.   

 

Senior middie Alex Hopmann, also a team captain, is UMBC’s leading active scorer with 63 points. In 2008, he tallied had a season-best five points (2g, 3a) in the America East title game vs. Albany and recorded a career-high three assists. He opened the season with 3-1-4 at Delaware, tying his career best in goals. Hopmann is UMBC’s  all-time leader with nine points (8g, 1a)  in NCAA Division I championship play. 

 

Senior attackman Ryan Smith and junior linemate Matt Latham tied for the team lead last season with 29 goals apiece.  Smith suffered a knee injury (torn ACL) just 77 seconds into the America East title game, but was in the starting lineup vs. Delaware and contributed one assist. Smith, along with junior midfielder Kyle Wimer were tabbed preseason honorable mention All-Americans by Inside Lacrosse Magazine in December. Wimer scored a career high five goals in the Feb. 14 win at Delaware.  

 

Ohio State transfer, senior Peet Poillon an IL second-team preseason All-American, scored 32 goals for the NCAA quarterfinalist Buckeyes in 2008. He scored his first UMBC goal at Delaware and added a pair of assists.

 

Latham finished second in the America East Conference with 15 goals in five league games  (3.00) and has now scored 29 goals in his last 10 outings. Latham posted three goals at Delaware and  has a scoring streak of 11 straight games alive. 

 

Sophomore midfielder Jamie Kimbles scored a career high two goals at Delaware.

 

Freshmen Rob Grimm and Rich May each scored their first collegiate points (one assist each) at Delaware.  

 

In 2008…

 

UMBC advanced to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Retrievers had gone in back-to-back years (1998, 1999 and 2006, 2007), but never in three in a row. All five of UMBC’s Division I post-season appearances have occurred in the last 11 years.

 

UMBC set a new school record with its current 11-game winning streak, the longest active streak in the nation. The previous mark of eight (1975, 1999) was broken with the win at Vermont on April 26. 

 

The Retrievers broke the school’s single season record for Division I wins. The 1999 and 2007 teams each won 11 games, while the NCAA Division II teams in 1974 and 1975 won 13 games apiece.

 

UMBC won its second America East Championship in the last three seasons to advance to the national tournament. The Retrievers also captured the league’s regular season crown, an honor they have won or shared in each of the past four seasons.

 

Head Coach Don Zimmerman earned his second America East Coach of the Year honors in the last three years. Coach Zimmerman was selected as the US Lacrosse Men’s Coach of the Week for the week ending May 4. Amongst active coaches, Zimmerman entered the 2009 season tenth in victories (186) and 13th in winning percentage (62.8%).

 

Zimmerman’s Records

Career Record: 189-110 (.629)

(22+ Seasons)

at UMBC: 114-94 (.548)

(15+ Seasons)

 

The April 19 win over Hartford propelled the Retrievers to a school-record No. 5 ranking in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll on April 21. The Retrievers reached the No. 9 slot in the USILA poll on three occasions; in March of 1999, in April of 2003 and two weeks ago before climbing to No. 6 on April 14.

 

UMBC averaged 8.5 goals per game in eight non-conference games, but were at a league high 12.4 goals per game in five America East games. They ended the season 16th in the country in goals per game (10.00).