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‘D’ keeps UMBC in tourney hunt
Retrievers put clamps on Hawks to set up chance to earn America East berth
Entering Saturday’s men’s lacrosse game against Hartford, UMBC had been allowing the eighth-fewest goals per game in Division I.
When the statistics for all 69 teams are updated after the weekend, the Retrievers might find themselves moving into the top five in the nation. UMBC harassed its America East rival into a season-low three goals and pulled away in the second half for an 8-3 victory before an announced 1,380 at UMBC Stadium.
The win impoved UMBC to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in the conference, setting up a winner-take-all scenario Friday when the team visits Vermont (10-3, 3-2). The winning team of that game will clinch a berth in the four-team America East tournament set to begin May 3, while the losing team will spend the postseason at home.
The Retrievers are riding a three-game winning streak – the program’s longest since a four-game run in 2011 – courtesy of a defense that has emerged as one of the toughest to score against. The unit has surrendered 12 goals during the stretch, including only seven in an upset of then-No. 1 Albany on April 6.
“It’s a work in progress, and I think it’s coming to a very good point right now,” senior long-stick midfielder Billy O’Hara (South River) said. “I think we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. Obviously, our game plan is working. So we’re just going to keep trying to get better and hold them to one goal if possible.”
After senior attackman Griffin Feiner converted a pass from junior midfielder Dylan Jinks to lift the Hawks (3-9, 0-5) into a 2-2 tie with 10:59 left in the second quarter, they went scoreless for the next 35:07 and scored only one goal in the final 40:59.
UMBC freshman attackman Steven Zichelli (Severna Park) led all scorers with three goals. Junior midfielder Billy Nolan (Arundel) and junior attackman Jack Andrews (St. Mary’s) contributed one goal and two assists each, and senior midfielder Max Haldeman came off the bench to chip in one goal and one assist.
The Retrievers badgered Hartford into committing a season-worst 20 turnovers and failing on four of 20 clears. That negated the 12-for-15 advantage the Hawks had on faceoffs.
O’Hara had four caused turnovers and one ground ball.
Feiner, who entered the game with team highs in both goals (36) and points (52), was limited to one goal and one assist by sophomore defenseman Nick Griffin (Liberty). Senior attackman Justin Huggins, who had scored 29 goals, scored only once while being marked by senior defenseman John Tornabene (Archbishop Curley). And senior attackman Rion Davison, who had 15 goals and a team-leading 19 assists, was shut out by senior defenseman Jason Brewster.
UMBC, which has not been shy about rotating between man-to-man and zone defense, stuck with its man-to-man schemes against Hartford.
“We said we wanted to come out man-to-man and see how we fare matching up with some of their guys,” UMBC coach Ryan Moran said. “During the game, we were winning a lot of them. So we said, ‘Hey, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ There was definitely a couple times as a staff, we asked, ‘Hey, should we throw some zone at them?’ But looking at the scoreboard, there was only one goal and then two goals, and we were like, ‘Well, it’s definitely not broke.’ So we were going to stick with it.”
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