UMBC

Head Coach Don Zimmerman earned Coach of the Year honors for the second straight year and the third in four seasons.

Cambridge, Mass.—UMBC senior goalkeeper Jeremy Blevins (Cockeysville, Md./Calvert Hall) was named America East Conference Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Year, in a vote of the conference’s head coaches. Blevins headlines 11 Retrievers that earned spots on America East’s four all-league teams.

In addition, head coach Don Zimmerman was named the conference’s Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year and for the third time in four seasons. UMBC has captured a share of the America East’s regular season crown in each of the past five campaigns.

Blevins earned First Team All America East honors, along with senior defenseman Kevin Goedeke (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex), senior midfielder Peet Poillon (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley/Ohio State), junior short-stick midfielder Jordan Pierce (Glen Burnie, Md./Mount St. Joseph) and junior midfielder Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield).

Four Retrievers earned second team honors. They were senior midfielder Alex Hopmann (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis), senior attackman Ryan Smith (Fallston, Md./Fallston/CCBC-Essex), junior defender Matt Kresse (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and junior attackman Matt Latham (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty).

Freshman attackman Rob Grimm (Black River, N.Y./Carthage) earned All-Rookie team honors, while Goedeke and junior attackman Chris Jones (Martinsville, N.J/Bridgewater-Raritan) earned All-Academic team honors.

Blevins becomes UMBC’s fourth Player of the Year honoree in the last five seasons. Attackman Brendan Mundorf captured the award in both 2005 and 2006 and midfielder Terry Kimener was the coaches’ selection in 2008.

Blevins is one of 21 nominees for lacrosse’s Tewaaraton Trophy for the second consecutive season. He is currently eighth in the nation with a 7.58 goals against average and earned America East Player of the Week honors after recording 21 saves and allowing only eight goals in wins over Towson and Binghamton on March 31 and April 4. One of the team captains, Blevins leads all active netminders in the nation in wins (42, tied for sixth-place on all-time list) is now fourth on UMBC’s all-time saves list with 601. He is now a two-time First-Team All-Conference honoree and was the league’s Rookie of the Year in 2006.

Coach Zimmerman is presiding over the most successful period in UMBC lacrosse history. UMBC’s 43 wins over this four-year period (2006-09) is the most in the school’s history, surpassing the 42 wins recorded from 1974-1977. For the first time in school history, UMBC has won 10 or more games in four consecutive seasons and the Retrievers have earned three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament. He owns a career record of 196-113 (.634) in 23 seasons and is now 123-97 (.559) in his 16^th year at UMBC.

The other four first team selections are newcomers to the league’s top-honored group. Poillon is the team leader in points with 42 (25 goals, team-high 17 assists) and is 20th in the nation and in points per game (3.23) and 30th in assists per contest (1.31). Wimer, an All-Rookie team member in 2007, is second on the squad with 36 points (21g, 15a).

Pierce, Goedeke and second team member Kresse have aided Blevins on the defensive end of the field. The UMBC defense, which has allowed single digit goals in eight of its last nine games, is now ranked ninth in the country, allowing 7.77 goals per game.

Hopmann, Smith and Latham each earn their second America East accolade. Hopmann, a 2007 second team honoree, leads the team with 30 goals. One of the team’s tri-captains, Hopmann is 18^th in the nation with 2.31 goals per game as of April 27 and is the 24^th player in school history to amass 30 or more goals in a season. Smith was a first team selection last year and the 2008 All American made a return from ACL surgery late last spring to score 17 goals and record 15 points in five league games (tied for third in America East) in 2009. Latham is a repeat second team selection from a year ago and he has 20 goals this season, and 25 scores in his last 10 America East contests.

Grimm has debuted with eight goals and 16 assists while competing as a fourth attackman/midfielder for the Retrievers.

Jones, who has started all 13 games on attack, has 15 goals and seven assists. The economics major has earned All-Academic team honors in back-to-back years. Goedeke is majoring in management of aging studies.

For the complete America East All-Conference teams, please visit www.americaeast.com.