UMBC

Phil Poe won 15 of 19 draws vs. Maryland.

BALTIMORE- The UMBC men’s lacrosse team scored five unanswered fourth-quarter goals and rallied to defeat No. 4 Maryland, 8-7, at UMBC Stadium.

Sophomore face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha) controlled 15 of 19 draws in the contest against a team that entered the game at 61.4 percent.

“[We were] determined to do whatever it took to win this game,” head coach Don Zimmerman said. “ I couldn’t be prouder of this team.  They've worked hard. Their attitude is outstanding-we've had some tough losses but this is certainly a well deserved win against a quality Maryland team.”

The Retrievers (2-2) entered the fourth quarter trailing, 6-3, but junior midfielder Scott Hopmann (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) scored his first goal of the season just 3:41 into the period.  Sophomore midfielder Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys’ Latin), who assisted on Hopmann’s goal, scored an unassisted tally at the 5:36 mark, and UMBC tied the game five seconds later, as Poe won the ensuing draw, raced down the middle of the field and beat Maryland netminder Niko Amato with a bounce shot from eight yards out.

Held off the scoreboard in the first half, UMBC junior attackman Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) scored the go-ahead goal at the 8:17 mark of the final quarter and added an insurance goal 35 seconds later. Finch set him up perfectly with a dodge and feed on the seventh goal and the eighth score came from a sharp left- side angle on a man-up opportunity.

Maryland junior midfielder John Haus brought the visitors to within 8-7 dodging from behind and scoring an unassisted goal with 1:31 remaining. The Terrapins won the ensuing draw and came down four-on-three, but junior netminder Adam Cohen (Arnold, Md./Severn) stopped attackman Owen Blye’s close range effort.

Maryland had one final chance, but were called for illegal procedure and turned the ball over with 23 seconds remaining.

Jones led UMBC with two goals and one assist, while Finch posted his first three points of the season with a goal and two helpers, all in the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Zach Linkous added two goals for UMBC.

Haus and Blye led the Terrapins with two goals each.

Maryland jumped out to a 3-0 lead seven minutes into the contest. Linkous scored back-to-back goals to bring UMBC to within 3-2 at the mid-point of the second quarter, but the Terrapins countered with two scores in the final 2:07 of the half to take a 5-2 lead to intermission.

Each team scored once in the third quarter to set the stage for UMBC’s comeback.

The Terrapins outshot UMBC, 30-25, but Cohen made six of his eight saves in the fourth quarter.  Amato made four saves, all in the second quarter, for the visitors. Buoyed by its face-off success, UMBC captured 40 ground balls to 22 for the visitors.

In its first two home games, UMBC rallied from multiple goal deficits to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but lost by a combined three goals, including Saturday’s 10-9 overtime setback vs. Fairfield.

UMBC has now won four of its last six meetings with the Terrapins.

The Retrievers now take on No. 2 Johns Hopkins at the Konica-Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, March 10.