UMBC

BALTIMORE—UMBC’s three-game winning streak came to an end in men’s lacrosse, as visiting Hartford (4-10, 1-4 America East) dominated the face-off circle and nipped the Retrievers (4-8, 3-2 America East), 14-12.

UMBC had already locked up the second seed in the America East Conference Tournament and will host Albany on Wednesday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m.

Senior attackman Matt Latham (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) one of a program-high 16 seniors honored before the game, led all goal scorers with four. He added an assist and was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game.

Hartford junior face-off specialist Tim Fallon won 24 of 30 draws in the game, helping his team dominate time of possession in the final 45 minutes of the game. Fallon was the Hawks’ Player of the Game, while sophomore attackman Ryan Compitello led a balanced effort with two goals and three assists.

The Retrievers made it look easy in the early stages of the game, as Latham scored twice and senior midfielder Maxx Davis (Baltimore, Md./Friends) and junior middie Jamie Kimbles (Centreville, Md./Queen Anne’s) added goals to give the hosts a 4-0 lead 11 minutes into the game. But Hartford got on the scoreboard twice in the final 2:15 of the quarter to halve the deficit after 15 minutes.

UMBC senior defender Matt Kresse (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) scored his first career goal, finishing a fast break 1:25 into the second quarter to give the Retrievers a 5-2 lead, but the Hawks closed the half on a 5-1 run to take a 7-6 lead into the locker room.

After Hartford attackman Aidan Genik and Latham traded goals to open the third quarter, Hartford went on a critical 3-0 run to open up an 11-7 margin with 3:34 remaining in the stanza. UMBC would score five more times, but did not win a face off after any of the five goals and could not close to within a pair of scores until freshman Scott Jones (Port Moody, B.C.) trimmed the margin to 14-12 with 2:50 remaining.

UMBC attempted seven shots in the final 2:05, but did not hit the cage on the first five and Hartford netminder Scott Bement stopped the final two desperation attempts in the final 23 seconds.

Fallon won 14 of 17 draws in the middle 30 minutes of the game.

Davis amassed four points with a goal and three assists, while senior midfielder Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa.) added two goals and an assist.

Hartford sophomore attackman Carter Bender led his side with three goals.  Bement made nine saves, matching UMBC freshman netminder Adam Cohen’s (Arnold, Md./Severn School) of nine. The Retrievers outshot the Hawks, 37-33.

UMBC will advance to the tournament semifinals for the seventh time in seven league seasons and will host a playoff game for the sixth time in the same span.