ALBANY, N.Y.--Fresh off an 11-9 upset victory over top-seeded Albany in the semifinals, the No. 4 UMBC women's lacrosse team (11-6) will take on five-time defending champion and second-seeded Boston University (10-8) Saturday afternoon in the America East title game. Opening draw at Albany's John Fallon Field is set for 1 p.m., and the game will be streamed live for free at AmericaEast.tv.
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 their semifinal win over Albany on Thursday was their first-ever tourney win. 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 eventual champion Terriers, 20-5.
* UMBC's semifinal win over Albany on Saturday was its first postseason victory 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.
Retrievers vs. Boston U.
* UMBC and Boston University met a month ago, on April 10, in Baltimore, when the 17th-ranked Terriers defeated the Retrievers, 12-8. BU took a 9-2 first-half lead, but UMBC rallied to make it 9-7 two-thirds of the way through the second stanza, but the Terriers scored the final four goals of the game. Junior midfielder Bria Phillips led the Retrievers with three goals in the contest, while BU attack Traci Landy led all scorers with five goals. Senior goalie Kate Quick made eight saves, while BU keeper Rachel Klein stopped seven shots.
* UMBC is 1-9 all-time against Boston University, including 0-2 in America East Tournament games. The Terriers defeated the Retrievers, 12-10, in the 2004 championships, and 20-5 in the 2005 tourney. UMBC's lone win over BU occurred in 2006, when the Retrievers won, 16-13, in Baltimore, which earned UMBC the top seed and the right to host the conference championship.
* Junior midfielder Amanda Pappas has scored five goals and six points in three career games against the Terriers. Kate Quick has made 29 saves and allowed 39 goals in 171 minutes.
LAST TIME OUT
* The Retrievers found themselves in an early 5-1 hole and trailed, 5-2, at halftime, but outscored top-seeded Albany, 9-4, in the second period for an 11-9 win on Thursday in the America East semifinals. UMBC opened the second half on a 7-1 run.
* Sophomore attack Emily Coady scored three of her game-high four goals in the second stanza. Amanda Pappas and Ashley Stodter also scored twice. Both of Pappas' goals tied the game.
* Kate Quick made six of her eight saves in the second half.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
* Five-time defending America East champion Boston University was 5-1 in conference play to earn the No. 2 seed in the league tournament. The Terriers defeated No. 3 New Hampshire, 10-6, in the semifinals on Thursday.
* First-Team All-Conference attacks Traci Landy and McKinley Curro lead the Terrier offense with 46 and 44 goals, respectively, the top two marks in the conference. Second-Team attack Xan Weitzel is tops in the America East with 31 assists.
* Second-Team All-Conference goalkeeper Rachel Klein ranks second in the America East with a .479 save percentage and third with a 9.53 goals-against average.
* In all, 10 Terriers 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, but the team's 11 wins are the most since winning 12 games in 2002. It is the Retrievers' eighth 10-win season since 1987, UMBC's first season at the Division I level. The Retrievers' 11-6 record is its best through 17 games since 2002, when they were 12-5.
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 38 ground balls and 34 draw controls this season.
ALL-CONFERENCE: Fahey was joined in the All-Conference Second Team by Erika Braerman, Amanda Pappas and 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 in psychology, Kate Quick was named to the America East All-Academic Team for the second year in a row. She was joined by Bria Phillips (3.54, business technology administration) and Emily Coady (3.39, political science).
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 3.18 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 fifth in the America East with 1.19 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 (31), Emily Coady (31), Ashley Stodter (30), Alicia Krause (24) and Bria Phillips (23) - 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 (39), Emily Coady (39), Ashley Stodter (34), Alicia Krause (33) and Bria Phillips (33) - have tallied at least 30 points on the season, the most players to reach that mark since 2002. In addition, four Retrievers - Braerman (32), Pappas (31), Coady (31) and Stodter (30) have scored at least 30 goals on the season, the most players to reach that mark since 2003.
QUICK STOPS: Senior goalie Kate Quick ranks second in the America East and 13th in the NCAA in goals-against average (8.81). She has allowed double-digit goals just five times in 17 games this season. Quick now has 419 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 419 2007-10
5. Connie Zinn 380 1990-91
TENACIOUS D: As a team, UMBC boasts the 12th-best scoring defense (8.71) in the nation, second only to Albany in the America East, and leads the conference in caused turnovers (9.29pg).
AGAINST THE BEST: UMBC's semifinal win over Albany, which was ranked 19th in the most recent IWLCA Coaches Poll, was its first over a ranked team since knocking off No. 11 Boston University on April 1, 2006, snapping a skid of 16 straight losses. The Retrievers have faced five ranked opponents in 2010.
GOING STREAKING: Junior attack Erika Braerman's season-long 16-game point-scoring streak was snapped on Thursday against Albany, when she was held scoreless. Amanda Pappas is riding a 10-game point streak. Bria Phillips and Emily Coady have each scored goals in five straight games, while Ashley Stodter has scored in four in a row. Alicia Krause has also tallied a point in four straight.
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 earn 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 five 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 26 hat tricks this season, led by Bria Phillips with six, including four in the last five games, while Erika Braerman, Emily Coady and Amanda Pappas have five apiece.
BRIGHT FUTURE: Looking ahead to next season, the Retrievers will return 92 percent (196 of 213 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-American, 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 213 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 12.53 goals per game.
PHILLING UP: After scoring just five goals in her first 10 games this season, Bria Phillips has tallied 18 in her last seven contests, including four hat tricks.
THE MORE THE MERRIER: Junior midfielder Ashley Stodter leads the Retrievers with 10 multi-goal efforts this season, while Erika Braerman, Emily Coady and Amanda Pappas each have nine. Braerman and Stodter both have a team-best 13 multi-point performances.
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 101 starts over the last three years.
LINKS
Championship Game Preview Video
AmericaEast.tv
Championship Central
