BALTIMORE - After nearly two weeks off, the UMBC women's lacrosse team (9-6, 2-3 AE) travels to America East rival Binghamton (2-12, 1-4 AE) for the regular-season finale on Saturday at 12 p.m. with a playoff berth at stake. If the Retrievers win, they will advance to the four-team America East Championships for the first time since 2006.
Last Time Out: The Retrievers dropped a heartbreaker in their home finale, falling to Albany, 11-10, on April 18. Sophomore midfielder Bria Phillips (Davidsonville, Md./Coronado (Calif.)) led UMBC with three goals - her third hat trick in as many games. Senior defender Sarah Willis (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) picked up five ground balls and caused three turnovers, while freshman defender Jamie Fahey (Baldwin, Md./Loch Raven) won four draw controls. Senior goalie Kate Quick (Phoenix, Md./St. Mary's recorded five saves in her final home contest.
On the Bearcats: Binghamton is 2-12 overall and 1-4 in America East play after defeating Stony Brook, 12-10, last weekend for just the second conference win in program history. Midfielder Beth Moore leads the Bearcats with 36 goals and ranks second in the league with 2.57 goals per game, while attack Ali Castiglie - the America East Fans' Choice Player of the Year - is the team's top scorer with 42 points on 30 goals and 12 assists. Moore is also tops on the team with 36 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. Goalies Lauren Scott and Emily Miller have shared the majority of the minutes between the pipes; Scott has posted slightly better numbers with a 14.70 goals-against average and a .441 save percentage, and she ranks fourth in the America East with 7.5 saves per game. Binghamton was picked to finish seventh in the America East preseason poll.
Inside the Series: The Retrievers have never lost to the Bearcats in six meetings, including a 16-4 victory in Baltimore last season. Abbey Swift led the Retrievers with five goals in the game, while Quick made nine saves. Senior midfielder Amanda Gable (Mount Airy, Md./Glenelg) has tallied six goals and seven points in three career games against the Bearcats, while Quick boasts a 5.06 GAA with 15 saves in just over 100 minutes.
For Starters: The Retrievers' nine wins on the season match their entire win total from the 2009 campaign, when they finished 9-8. At 9-6, UMBC has posted its best record through 15 games since 2002, when it was 11-4.
Helping Hand: With three assists against Albany, junior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston, Md./Fallston) matched former teammate Meghan Keelan for the fifth-most helpers in a single season in UMBC history. Braerman ranks fourth in the America East with 1.4 assists per game.
UMBC Single-Season Assists
- Heather Komarnik, 28, 1998
- Emily Petrlik, 24, 1994
Jen Dragoni, 24, 2003
- Kori Kindbom, 22, 1984
- Meghan Keelan, 21, 2008
Erika Braerman, 21, 2010
Nifty Fifty: Braerman's three points against Albany give her 50 on the year, 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 3.33 points per game.
20/20: Five Retrievers; Braerman (29), junior midfielder Amanda Pappas (27), sophomore attack Emily Coady (26), junior midfielder Ashley Stodter (24) and sophomore attack Alicia Krause (21); have scored at least 20 goals this season, the most players to reach that mark since the same number accomplished the feat in 2007.
Quick Stops: Quick ranks second in the America East and 14th in the NCAA in goals-against average (8.78). She has allowed double-digit goals just five times in 15 games this season. In addition, her .459 save percentage ranks third among league leaders.
Tenacious D: As a team, UMBC boasted the 12th-best scoring defense (8.73) in the nation entering the week and led the America East in caused turnovers (9.8pg).
Streaking: Braerman has tallied at least one point in all 15 games so far this season, while Pappas (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) has tallied a point in each of her last eight games.
Retrievers Honored: Braerman and freshman midfielder Lindsay Cox (High Bridge, N.J./Voorhees) were named America East Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for the first week of the season, while Pappas and freshman midfielder Kerianne Allen (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) earned the same honors a week later. Pappas repeated as Player of the Week on March 29, while Quick earned the league's Defensive Player of the Week on March 22, the third such honor of her career. The six weekly awards this season are the most UMBC has received in seven years in the America East Conference. Braerman was the first Retriever to garner Player of the Week since Levendusky on April 7, 2008, and Pappas is the first Retriever to earn the honor twice in a season since Levendusky that same year. In addition, it is the first time since 2004 that a pair of Retrievers has been named Rookie of the Week in the same season. Finally, when Braerman and Cox took home their awards for Week 1, it was the first time that two Retrievers earned America East honors in the same week since Levendusky and Susie Sweeney were named Player and Defender of the Week, respectively, on March 2, 2006.
Dawg Bites: The Retrievers are averaging 12.12 goals per game, their most since 2006… After scoring just five goals in her first 10 games this season, Phillips has tallied 14 times in her last five contests… 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… The Retrievers' 20 goals scored against Manhattan on March 29 were the most since also tallying 20 against Iona on March 17, 2009… Thirteen Retrievers have found the back of the net this season, including seven in double digits… Braerman, Krause (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron/Duquesne), Stodter (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) and Coady (Westminster, Md./Westminster) lead UMBC with eight multi-goal games, while Braerman has posted a team-best 11 multi-point efforts… Phillips and Pappas have each notched a team-best five hat tricks on the season… Braerman leads the Retrievers with 29 goals, 21 assists and 50 points… Quick has picked up a team-best 34 ground balls, while Fahey has won a team-high 30 draw controls and ranks fourth in the America East with 2.0 per game… Junior defender C.J. Durham (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) leads UMBC with 23 caused turnovers… The Retrievers were picked to finish fifth in the America East preseason poll.
