UMBC

Kate Quick boasts an 8.80 GAA this season.

BALTIMORE--The fourth-seeded UMBC women's lacrosse team (10-6, 3-3 AE) makes its first appearance in the America East Championship in five years Thursday afternoon when it takes on top-seeded and host Albany (13-2, 6-0 AE) in the semifinals. Opening draw at John Fallon Field is set for 1 p.m.

Retrievers at America East Championships
 * UMBC returns to the America East Championship for the first time since 2006, when the Retrievers won a share of the regular-season title and hosted the tournament as the No. 1 seed. That season, UMBC fell in the semifinals to No. 4 New Hampshire, 12-5.
 * UMBC makes its fourth-ever trip to the America East Championship in seven years in the conference. The Retrievers earned a berth in the four-team tournament in each of their first three years in the league, but they have never won a tourney game. In 2004, UMBC’s first as a member of the America East, the Retrievers earned the No. 3 seed and lost to No. 2 Boston U., 12-10. In 2005, No. 4 UMBC fell to the top-seeded and evenutal champion Terriers, 20-5.
 * UMBC has not won a conference tournament game since 2003, when the second-seeded Retrievers defeated No. 3 Wagner and No. 4 Mount St. Mary’s to win the Northeast Conference Championship.
 * The Retrievers were picked to finish fifth in the 2010 preseason poll, but finished fourth with a 3-3 record. However, UMBC’s three losses were to the three other tournament teams.
 * Should UMBC defeat Albany today, it will take on the winner of the second semifinal contest between No. 2 Boston U. and No. 3 New Hampshire. The Retrievers lost to the Wildcats, 16-8, on April 3, and fell to the Terriers, 12-8, on April 10.

Retrievers vs. Albany
 * UMBC and Albany met two-and-a-half weeks ago, on April 18, in Baltimore, when the Great Danes edged the Retrievers, 11-10. The game featured six ties, and neither team led by more than two goals at any point in the contest, and Albany scored the game-winner with 52 seconds remaining. Sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips led the Retrievers with three goals.
 * UMBC is 4-4 all-time against Albany, and 3-4 in seven seasons as America East rivals. The Retrievers are 1-2 against the Great Danes at Fallon Field. Junior midfielder Amanda Pappas has scored seven goals and nine points in three career games against the Great Danes. Senior goalie Kate Quick has posted an 11.68 goals-against average and a .365 save percentage in four contests against Albany. She has made 23 saves and allowed 40 goals in 205 minutes.

LAST TIME OUT
 * The Retrievers found themselves in an early 5-0 hole and trailed, 7-5, at halftime, but outscored Binghamton, 14-2, in the second period for a 19-9 win on Saturday, clinching the playoff berth.
 * Freshman midfielder Lindsay Cox tallied four straight goals to open the second half and give the Retrievers the lead for good.
 * Junior midfielder Ashley Stodter also scored four goals, while junior attack Erika Braerman and junior midfielder Amanda Pappas each tallied four points on three goals and an assist.

SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
 * Albany earned the top seed in the America East Championship by virtue of its perfect 6-0 conference mark. The Great Danes, who are 13-2 overall, knocked off five-time defending champion Boston University, 12-11, on Saturday.
 * Ranked 19th in the IWLCA Coaches’ Poll, Albany is led by America East Player of the Year Nikki Branchini. The defender leads the America East in ground balls (37), draw controls (72) and caused turnovers (29).
 * First-Team All-Conference attack Christine Grueniger leads the Great Danes with 38 goals, while Second-Team attack Taylor Frink is tops with 52 points.
 * First-Team All-Conference goalie Ashley Ross leads the America East with a 7.92 GAA and a .517 save percentage.
 * Albany is the league’s top offense (15.47 goals per game) and defense (7.80 gpg). In all, seven Great Danes were named to the first and second teams.

PERFECT 10: UMBC has won 10 games for the first time since 2006, when it went 10-8 on the season. It is the Retrievers’ eighth 10-win season since 1987, UMBC’s first season at the Division I level. The Retrievers’ 10-6 record is its best through 16 games since 2002, when they were 12-4.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Freshman defender Jamie Fahey is the first Retriever ever to be named Rookie of the Year in UMBC’s seven seasons in the America East Conference. Fahey leads the Retrievers with 35 ground balls and 32 draw controls this season.

ALL-CONFERENCE: Fahey was joined in the All-Conference Second Team by junior attack Erika Braerman, junior midfielder Amanda Pappas and sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips. All three players have tallied at least 20 goals and 30 points this season.

HEAD OF THE CLASS: With a 3.37 cumulative grade-point average, senior goalie Kate Quick was named to the America East All-Academic Team for the second year in a row. She was joined by sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips (3.54) and sophomore attack Emily Coady (3.39).

BRAERMAN’S BREAKOUT: Junior attack Erika Braerman is experiencing a breakout season. After making just four starts and scoring 15 goals and 32 points in her first two seasons, Braerman leads the Retrievers with 32 goals, 22 assists and 54 points in 2010. She has scored a career-high five goals in a game twice, including against Monmouth on March 10, when she added two assists for a career-best seven points.

NIFTY FIFTY: Junior attack Erika Braerman’s three points against Albany on April 18 gave her 50 on the season, giving the Retrievers a 50-point scorer in three straight seasons. Kara Dorr tallied 50 points in 2009, and Ali Levendusky posted 59 in 2008. Braerman, ranks third in the America East with 3.38 points per game, and her 54 points on the year are tied for the 10th-most in a single season in school history.

UMBC Single-Season Points
1. Heather Komarnik, 82, 1998
2. Wendy Heald, 64, 1983
3. Jen Dragoni, 61, 2003
4. Jamie Gerhart, 60, 2002
5. Ali Levendusky, 59, 2008
6. Alison Zaetz, 57, 1994
    Debbie Krastel, 57, 1999
8. Laura Robinson, 56, 1984
    Renee Tirocchi, 56, 2001
10. Ali Levendusky, 54, 2006
     Erika Braerman, 54, 2010

HELPING HAND: With one assist against Binghamton on Sunday, Erika Braerman tied Kori Kindbom for the fourth-most helpers in a single season in school history (22). Braerman ranks fourth in the America East with 1.38 assists per game.

UMBC Single-Season Assists
1. Heather Komarnik, 28, 1998
2. Emily Petrlik, 24, 1994
    Jen Dragoni, 24, 2003
4. Kori Kindbom, 22, 1984
    Erika Braerman, 22, 2010

20/20: Six Retrievers - Erika Braerman (32), Amanda Pappas (29), Ashley Stodter (28), Emily Coady (27), Alicia Krause (23) and Bria Phillips (22) - have scored at least 20 goals this season, the most players to reach that mark since 2003.

30 ROCK: Six Retrievers - Erika Braerman (54), Amanda Pappas (37), Emily Coady (35), Ashley Stodter (32), Alicia Krause (32) and Bria Phillips (32) - have tallied at least 30 points on the season, the most players to reach that mark since 2002.

QUICK STOPS: Senior goalie Kate Quick ranks second in the America East and 13th in the NCAA in goals-against average (8.80). She has allowed double-digit goals just five times in 16 games this season. Quick now has 411 career saves, the fourth-most ever by a Retriever goalie.

UMBC Career Saves
1. Patty Cronise, 843, 1985-88
2. Amy Jagoda, 775, 1998-2001
3. Dani Fostik, 491, 1994-97
4. Kate Quick, 411, 2007-10
5. Connie Zinn, 380, 1990-91

TENACIOUS D: As a team, UMBC boasts the 12th-best scoring defense (8.75) in the nation, second only to Albany in the America East, and leads the conference in caused turnovers (9.31pg).

GOING STREAKING: Junior attack Erika Braerman has scored at least one point in all 16 games this season. Junior midfielder Amanda Pappas is riding a nine-game point streak. Sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips and sophomore attack Emily Coady have each scored goals in four straight games.

GOING STREAKING, PART II: UMBC’s loss to New Hampshire on April 3 snapped a six-game winning streak, its longest since also taking six in a row from April 17-May 3, 2003

BOOKENDS: Freshman midfielder Lindsay Cox was named America East Rookie of the Week in the first and last weeks of the season. Cox played a key role in UMBC’s 19-9 tournament-clinching win at Binghamton on Sunday, scoring four straight goals to open the second half and give the Retrievers the lead for good after they trailed, 7-5, at halftime. She is the first Retriever ever to be named America East Rookie of the Week twice.

WHAT A WEEK: Retrievers have received seven America East weekly awards this, , the most UMBC has received in seven years in the conference. Erika Braerman and Lindsay Cox were named Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for the first week of the season, while Amanda Pappas and freshman midfielder Kerianne Allen earned the same honors a week later. Pappas repeated as Player of the week on March 29, while senior goalie Kate Quick earned the league’s Defensive Player of the Week on March 22, the third such honor of her career, and Cox took home Rookie of the Week again for the final week of the season. Braerman was the first Retriever to garner Player of the Week since Ali Levendusky on April 7, 2008, and Pappas is the first Retriever to earn the honor twice in a season since Levendusky that same year.

FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS: First-year head coach Kelly Berger is the fourth head coach in the 38-year history of UMBC women’s lacrosse. UMBC Hall of Famer Kathy Zerrlaut led the Retrievers from the program’s inception in 1973 until 1996, amassing a record of 150-140-4 (.510) in 24 seasons. Monical Yeakel took over in 1997 and compiled a 78-73 (.517) record in nine years (‘97-‘05), and Courtney Connor posted a 30-38 (.441) record in four years from 2006-09. In her first head coaching job, Berger is the most successful of the four in her first year as the Retriever mentor, as neither Zerrlaut nor Yeakel led their teams to a winning record in their first season at the helm, while Connor’s first team posted a 10-8 overall mark.

SECOND HELPING: In each of the last four games, UMBC has been trailing at halftime but outscored its opponent in the second period, and in all but one game (against Boston University), the Retrievers have taken the lead.

HAT’S OFF: Eight Retrievers have combined for 25 hat tricks this season, led by Bria Phillips with six, including four in the last four games, while Erika Braerman and Amanda Pappas have five apiece.

BRIGHT FUTURE: Looking ahead to next season, the Retrievers will return 91.6 percent (185 of 202 goals) of its offense in 2011, including the top six scorers on the current team, who are all sophomores and juniors.

YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: At 25 years old, first-year head coach Kelly Berger is one of the youngest coaches in Division I lacrosse, just a week older than Howard’s Jessica Morgan. However, Berger, has plenty of experience to draw from. Prior to serving as an assistant at UMBC for the previous two seasons, Berger was a two-time All-Americann, the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year and a 2007 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee at James Madison, where she finished her career with 184 goals and 262 points. She has also been involved with the U.S. National Team since 2005.

APPELT OF MY EYE: First-year assistant coach Amy Appelt is one of the best players in NCAA history. A four-time All-American at Virginia, she led the Cavaliers to the national championship in 2004, when she won the Tewaaraton Trophy after leading the nation in scoring with 90 goals. She scored a goal in an NCAA-record 66 straight games, and her career totals of 258 goals and 373 points rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Division I record books. She has been involved with the U.S. National Team since 2002.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURST: UMBC has scored 202 goals on the season, reaching the 200 mark for the first time since 2006, when it found the back of the net 219 times. The Retrievers rank second in the America East with 12.62 goals per game.

PHILLING UP: After scoring just five goals in her first 10 games this season, Bria Phillips has tallied 17 in her last six contests, including four straight hat tricks.

THE MORE THE MERRIER: Junior attack Erika Braerman, sophomore attack Alicia Krause and junior midfielder Ashley Stodter lead the Retrievers with nine multi-goal efforts this season, while junior midfielder Amanda Pappas and sophomore attack Emily Coady both have eight. Braerman has a team-best 13 multi-point performances, while Krause and Stodter each have 12.

CHESAPEAKE TRIO: Three Retriever juniors came to UMBC from Chesapeake High School in Pasadena, Md., in 2008 - midfielders Amanda Pappas and Kristen Milligan and defender C.J. Durham. The trio has combined to make 99 starts over the last three years.