UMBC

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team takes to the road for the first time this season, as the Retrievers (0-1) take on Rutgers (1-0) on the RU Turf Field in Piscataway, N.J. on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb, 27, but was moved back 24 hours because of the weather event affecting the region.

UMBC opened the 2010 season with a heartbreaking 11-10 triple overtime loss to Delaware at UMBC Stadium on Feb. 20. This week, the Retrievers are ranked 19^th in Inside Lacrosse and 20^th by the USILA. The Scarlet Knights thrashed host Wagner, 24-4, on Feb. 21.

The Retrievers, who were ranked 11^th (tied with Navy) in the preseason USILA poll and 14^th in the preseason Inside Lacrosse poll, have won back-to-back America East Conference titles and have made four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships. Face-Off Yearbook 2010 ranked UMBC as the No. 14 team in the country in its preseason rankings, while the coaches’ poll in that publication rated the Retrievers at the No. 12 position.

HEAD COACH NOTES: In 2009, Head Coach Don Zimmerman earned his third America East Coach of the Year honors in the four years. Amongst active coaches, Zimmerman entered the 2010 season 11th in victories (198) and 12th in winning percentage (63.5%).

Zimmerman’s Records

Career Record: 198-115(.633) (23+ Seasons)            

at UMBC: 125-99 (.558) (16+ Seasons)

THE STAFF: Baltimore native Pat Tracy returns for his third season on the Retriever sidelines. The former collegiate attackman has primarily worked the defense during his tenure at UMBC. Volunteer assistant coach and former Retriever standout netminder Tim Flanagan (’03) also returns for his third season on the staff.

Former Retriever standout Andy Gallagher was added to the staff in November of 2009. The Rockville, Md. native showed tremendous courage and skill during his playing career at UMBC. He suffered torn ACL’s in each of his first two playing seasons (2003 and 2004), but recovered to cap his career with an All-America citation in his senior campaign of 2007. For his career, Gallagher recorded 98 goals and 146 points and is currently ranked 11^th on UMBC’s all-time scoring list.

Peet Poillon will serve as an undergraduate assistant coach in 2010. He earned Second-Team All America honors after a brilliant 2009 campaign for the America East champion Retrievers. He led the squad with 47 points, scoring 26 goals and adding a team-best 21 assists. The First-Team All-Conference selection also competed for the South squad in the USILA’s 68th annual North-South game on May 21 at Harvard University.

AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL: UMBC and Stony Brook University, which shared the America East men’s lacrosse regular-season title and met in the championship game a year ago, have been selected co-favorites to capture the 2010 crown, according to the preseason coaches’ poll, which was announced Tuesday. Both teams received a total of 22 points with the Retrievers, the two-time defending league champion, garnering three first-place votes, and the Seawolves receiving two. University at Albany, the 2007 champion, followed closely behind with 19 points and one first-place tally (coaches could not vote for their own team). University of Hartford was chosen fourth with 12 points, while University of Vermont followed in fifth with nine points and Binghamton University rounded out the six-team poll with six points.

The top four teams in the conference will qualify for the America East Championship, which takes place May 5-8 at the higher seed, with the winner of the tournament receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

Team (1st-place votes) Total

1T. UMBC (3) 22; 1T. Stony Brook (2) 22; 3. Albany (1) 19; 4. Hartford 12; 5. Vermont 9; 6. Binghamton 6

NEW LEADERSHIP: UMBC Head Coach Don Zimmerman announced that senior defenseman Matt Kresse (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and senior short-stick midfielder Jordan Pierce (Glen Burnie, Md./Mount St. Joseph) have been added as team captains for the 2010 squad.

The duo joins senior defender Bobby Atwell (Dunkirk, Md./Southern), senior long-stick midfielders Mike Camardo (Altamont, N.Y./Guilderland) and Sam Eitel (Ocean City, Md./Mount St. Joseph) and senior midfielder Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) as team captains.

Kresse has started 29 of 32 games at close defense over the past two seasons and earned Second-Team All-Conference honors last spring. Pierce was named to the 2009 America East First-Team All-Conference squad and was also selected to Inside Lacrosse’s 2010 preseason America East All-Conference squad.

Wimer has been selected as a candidate for the  Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The senior midfielder is amongst twenty NCAA® men’s lacrosse student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were tabbed as candidates for the honor. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – classroom, character, community and competition.

He was named to the 2010 Inside Lacrosse First-Team preseason All-America squad and will serve as one of the team’s captains this spring. He was selected as a 2009 USILA All-American and an America East First-Team All-Conference midfielder.  The business technology administration major has 104 career points (56 goals, 48 assists) and set career highs in goals (24), assists (18) and total points (42) last season.

Wimer became the 27^th player in school history to surpass the 100-point plateau and moved past former teammate Alex Hopmann, ’09 (103 pts.) and 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Craig Linthicum, ’81 (102 pts.)  into 25^th place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list. A year after Wimer scored a career-best five goals in the season-opening win at Delaware in 2009, he amassed a career-high six points (3g, 3a) in last Saturday’s battle with the Blue Hens.

Atwell did not start, but saw substantial playing time and collected four ground balls in the opener vs. Delaware. He missed all of the 2009 season after tearing his ACL in the winter of 2009. Despite his injury, the fifth-year senior was selected to IL’s Third Team preseason squad.

Wimer, Atwell and Pierce were also named to Inside Lacrosse’s preseason America East All-Conference team. 

Camardo owned 32 (UMBC single-season record) of UMBC’s 104 caused turnovers on last season and reached the 100 ground ball mark (123) in his career. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2009 America East Tournament scored two goals and added 12 ground balls and four CT’s in the championship. Camardo finished the campaign 12th in the nation in caused turnovers and was third amongst players competing in the NCAA Tournament. He opened the 2010 campaign with four ground balls and a team-high three caused turnovers vs. Delaware.

Senior attackman Matt Latham finished second in the America East Conference with 15 goals in five league games in 2009 (3.00) and has now scored 55 goals in his last 26 outings, including a pair vs. Delaware on Feb. 20. He also has 25 scores in his last 10 America East contests.

Sophomore face-off specialist Justin Radebaugh was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week, UMBC’s first-such award of the season, on April 13. He won a season-high 16 draws against Albany on April 11 and collected a team season-best 11 ground balls in the America East Tournament semifinal win over Binghamton. He is the 20^th player in school history (recorded since 1978) to control 100 (119, 14th top figure in a UMBC single season) in a campaign. Radebaugh did not dress vs. Delaware due to a concussion suffered in the previous week’s practice. Junior J. D. Harkey, coming off ACL surgery in the spring of 2009, won 9 of 23 draws vs. Delaware, including two of three in overtime.

Junior midfielder Bobby Stockton tied career highs in goals (3) and points (4) in the season-opener vs. Delaware. All four of his points occurred in UMBC’s six-goal fourth quarter. Two of his goals tied the game (8-8 and 10-10) and the other gave UMBC a brief 9-8 lead. Stockton had three goals and an assist vs. Hartford in his freshman season on April 18, 2008.

Senior midfielder Maxx Davis, who played as a defensive midfielder in the season opener vs. Delaware, responded with a career-high and team-high six ground balls.

Senior goalkeeper Kevin Kohri  made his first career start on Feb. 20 vs. Delaware and made five saves, while allowing six Blue Hen goals in the third 30 minutes. Freshman netminder Adam Cohen took the loss in relief, allowing five goals in the final 40:53.

2009 America East All-Conference

First Team: G Jeremy Blevins, D Kevin Goedeke, M Peet Poillon, SSM Jordan Pierce, M Kyle

Wimer

Second Team: M Alex Hopmann, D Matt Kresse, A Matt Latham, A Ryan Smith

All-Rookie Team: A/M Rob Grimm

All-Academic Team: D Kevin Goedeke, A Chris Jones

Player of the Year: Jeremy Blevins

Coach of the Year: Don Zimmerman

2009 America East All Championship Team

G Jeremy Blevins, FO Specialist Justin Radebaugh, A Ryan Smith, LSM Mike Camardo

Most Outstanding Player: Mike Camardo

NEWBIES: UMBC head men’s lacrosse coach Don Zimmerman and his staff are pleased to welcome 19 newcomers to the Retrievers’ program for the fall of 2009. The largest incoming class in UMBC’s Division I history includes 18 freshmen and one transfer and is comprised of a dozen attackmen/midfielders, six defensemen/long-stick midfielders and one goalkeeper.

WINNING THE TIGHT ONES: UMBC is 17-8 in games decided by three goals or less since the beginning of the 2007 season. UMBC had won eight straight overtime decisions in the last three seasons, until dropping the Feb. 20 triple overtime decision to Delaware. UMBC’s previous overtime loss was an 11-10 setback at Penn early in the 2006 season.

In one-goal decisions, UMBC has won 11 of its last 15. UMBC is now 14-5 in Don Zimmerman’s 16 seasons in overtime and in his career, Coach Zimmerman is 16-7 in extra time.

HOME DAWGS: UMBC had won 15 straight home games and 20 of the last 21, until the back-to-back setbacks vs. Johns Hopkins and Princeton last March. The Retrievers had not lost two straight at home since losses to North Carolina and Stony Brook in 2005. The streak of 15 straight at home was the second-longest in the nation behind Notre Dame (20).

THE HITS JUST KEEP COMING: UMBC’s 45 wins over a 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 won 10 or more games in four consecutive seasons.

SATURDAYS IN THE PARK: The Retrievers had won 21 straight Saturday home games, until the 11-10 triple overtime loss to Delaware on Feb. 20. UMBC’s last loss in that situation occurred on  March 18, 2006, when then-No. 1 Maryland defeated UMBC, 9-4.

DON’T LOOK BACK: UMBC is now in its 43rd season of varsity men's lacrosse with a record of 323-260 (.554). They are 207-194 (.517) in their 29th year at the Division I level, achieving win No. 200 vs. Ohio State on March 21, 2009. 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 (1983) when the record was 19-18.

HOME OPENERS: Prior to the loss to the Blue Hens, UMBC had won its last seven home openers since an 11-4 loss to Navy in 2002. Overall, Coach Zimmerman is now 11-6 in UMBC home openers.

POWERFUL POWER PLAY: UMBC has been nationally ranked in man-up percentage in four of the past five years. Last season, the Retrievers led the country in man-up situations and set a school record by converting on 51.7% (30 of 57) of its opportunities. UMBC scored on two of eight extra-man situations vs. Delaware in the 2010 opener.

Year Man-Up Pct. Year-End National Rank

2009    .517                             1st

2007    .464                             5th

2006    .417                             7th

2005    .444                             2nd

2004    .379                             10^th

WORLD TRAVELERS: Last June, the UMBC men’s lacrosse program participated in the 2009 International Friendship Games as part of a 11-day journey to Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan. All players and coaches from the 2009 Retriever squad made the journey to the far east.

Head Coach Don Zimmerman began his association with the Japan Lacrosse Association in 1987, when he held the first-ever lacrosse camp in Japan. In 1989, Johns Hopkins University and the Australian national team were invited to Japan and the first International Lacrosse Friendship Games were held at the Komazawa Olympic Stadium.

UMBC competed against the U-20 Toyko squad and the Japan National squad on Sat., June 13, and faced the U-22 Japan National Squad in Edogawa Stadium in an International Friendship Game on Sun., June 14.

ALUMNI FRONT; Former UMBC lacrosse standout attackmen Brendan Mundorf (’06) and Drew Westervelt (’07) are among 23 players who were selected for the 2010 United States men’s national team. All 23 players, selected by the coaching staff, will compete in the FIL World Championship in Manchester, England from July 14-24, 2010.

Mundorf and Westervelt, who are current teammates with the MLL’s Denver Outlaws, are the third and fourth former Retrievers to represent the USA. Defenseman Gary Clipp (’76) earned the first distinction in 1982, and defenseman George McGeeney (’82) was a two-time selection in 1986 and 1990.

Mundorf earned All America honors in 2005 and 2006 and was the America East Player of the Year in 2006. He is currently sixth on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 112 goals (6^th), 73 assists (9^th) for 195 points. Mundorf competed for Team Australia in the 2006 World Lacrosse Championships held in Ontario, Canada and had a brilliant tournament, helping the Aussies to an impressive third-place finish. He finished tied for third overall in the tournament with 32 points (24 goals, 8 assists). 

A 2007 Third Team All American, Westervelt is UMBC’s third all-time leading scorer with 112 goals (6^th, tied with Mundorf), 94 assists (3^rd) for 206 points. He had a brilliant 2007 campaign, scoring 35 goals and adding 36 assists for 71 points, the second-highest figure in UMBC’s Division I history.

Both Mundorf and Westervelt were selected to the 2009 MLL All-Star team.

Also in the summer, 1988 UMBC All-America men’s lacrosse player Ricky Fried has been named the 2009-2013 U.S. Women’s Lacrosse National Team Head Coach.

Fried, who also represented UMBC at the 1988 North-South All-Star game, amassed 49 goals and 21 assists as a midfielder in his three campaigns (1986-88) at UMBC. The Timonium, Md. native served as a tri-captain in 1988 and posted totals of 29 goals and nine assists in his final season.

Fried started his coaching career with the Retrievers’ men’s program in 1989 and earned his bachelor’s degree in history/education from UMBC in 1988.  He is currently the head women’s lacrosse coach at Georgetown University. 

DAWGS AND KNIGHTS: Since resuming the series in 2008, each team has won at home and the series is level at 6-6. UMBC is 5-1 at home and 1-5 in games played at Piscataway, with the Scarlet Knights riding a three-game home winning streak in the series.

UMBC vs. Rutgers                (Series tied at , 6-6)                             

1981    H         W        11-10

1982    A         L          9-16

1985    H         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          11-12 (OT)

2008    A         L          4-13

2009    H         W        17-10

Career Scoring vs. Rutgers: Wimer (2gp, 4-1-5); Jones (2gp, 2-0-2), Grimm (1gp, 1-3-4), Latham (2gp, 1-1-2), Davis (1gp, 1-0-1), May (1gp, 1-0-1).