For just the third time in twelve match-ups, the UMBC men's lacrosse team will host Johns Hopkins University at UMBC Stadium when the two squads face off on Saturday, March 8 at 1:05 p.m. The Retrievers (2-1) have won two straight games in their current four-game homestand, while Hopkins has moved up to No. 3 in the USILA rankings with a 4-0 start. Gary Stein and Kevin O'Neill have all the play-by-play action on Q1370 AM (www.q1370.com), beginning at 12:55 p.m. and video streaming is available via the America East digital network.
RETRIEVER UPDATE: SR A Matt Gregoire led a balanced attack with a career-high five goals and the Retriever defense held Richmond to a season-low five scores in a 14-5 victory in chilly conditions at UMBC Stadium on March 1. Gregoire has now scored nine goals in his last two games. UMBC held Richmond to five goals, the fewest allowed since the 2010 squad defeated Rutgers, 6-5, on Feb. 27, 2010. Red-shirt FR G Connor Gordon came up with double-digit saves for the second consecutive game, posting a 11 stops. He allowed four of the five UR goals and now has a 62.3 percent save mark, which is tenth-best in the nation. UMBC is eighth in the nation this week in face-off winning percentage (62.5%) and SR face-off specialist Phil Poe is 11th at 62.7%.
LAST YEAR'S MEETING/SERIES UPDATE: Wes DiRito made nine saves in his first career start, but No. 6 Johns Hopkins ran out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and held off UMBC, 13-7, at Homewood Field on March 8, 2013. Scott Jones and Pat Young each scored two goals to lead the Retrievers. UMBC outshot Hopkins 35-33 and won the ground ball battle, 34-28.