Baltimore-The unluckiest bounce of the day ended several UMBC men's lacrosse streaks.
Delaware's Curtis Dickson's fluke goal with 1:07 remaining in the third overtime period gave the visiting Fightin Blue Hens (0-2) an 11-10 win over 11th-ranked UMBC in the Retrievers season opener.
The Retrievers had won eight consecutive overtime games dating back to an 11-10 loss at Penn early in the 2006 campaign. UMBC had also won seven consecutive home openers, dating back to a loss to Navy in 2002 and the Retrievers had won 21 straight Saturday home affairs since No. 1 Maryland won, 9-4, in 2006.
Senior midfielder Kyle Wimer (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield), who was moved to attack for this game, responded with a career-high six points on three goals and three assists. Junior middie Bobby Stockton (Ponte Vedra, Fla./Nease) tied a career-high with four points and scored all three of his goals during UMBC's furious fourth-quarter rally.
Dickson, a senior attackman, led all scorers with seven goals and an assist.
On the game-winning play, Dickson drove from the left inside, but his shot was slowed by senior midfielder Maxx Davis (Baltimore, Md./Friends). The ball was heading well left of the cage, but deflected off a Retriever defender's pole, beyond freshman netminder Adam Cohen (Arnold, Md./The Severn School) and over the goal line.
Delaware built a 7-4 lead after three quarters, but the Retrievers posted a six-goal fourth quarter to send the game to extra time. Senior attackman Matt Latham (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) and sophomore midfielder Rob Grimm (Black River, N.Y./Carthage) scored a minute apart early in the period to cut UMBC's deficit to 7-6. After Blue Hen senior attackman Mark Steverson restored a two-goal advantage at the 9:36 mark, Wimer started a 3-0 UMBC run with an unassisted goal at 7:06.
Wimer found Stockton up top and the junior tied the score at 8-8 with 4:02 to play, then the Florida-born midfielder gave UMBC its only lead of the day from a similar position on the turf with 3:11 remaining. But Delaware quickly re-tied the score at 2:22 on a Martin Cahill score, then controlled the ensuing draw and took a 10-9 lead on Dickson's sixth goal of the day with 1:52 remaining.
UMBC drew a 30-second foul on their next possession, but could get an opportunity and called timeout with two seconds left on the man-up situation. The penalty expired, but Stockton's left-handed shot from 10 yards away with 36 seconds remaining beat Delaware netminder Noah Fossner and sent the game to overtime.
With primary face-off specialist Justin Radebaugh Lutherville, Md./Boys Latin) unavailable due to injury, Delaware's Tommy Lee dominated most of the day at the X. But Retriever junior J.D. Harkey (Purcellville, Va./Loudon Valley) controlled two of the three overtime draws. Wimer had UMBC's best chance in the first extra session, but Fossner stopped his inside shot with 1:19 to play in the first extra period.
Latham had a pair of goals, while Grimm added a goal and an assist for UMBC. Cahill had three goals to support Dickson for Delaware.
Fossner made nine saves to earn the victory. UMBC started senior Kevin Kohri (Sykesville, Md./Century), who made five saves and allowed six Delaware first-half goals. Cohen took the loss in his debut, playing the final 41 minutes.
Delaware outshot UMBC, 42-38 and won 16 of 25 draws.
