BALTIMORE- The UMBC men's lacrosse team scored five unanswered
fourth-quarter goals and rallied to defeat No. 4 Maryland, 8-7, at
UMBC Stadium.
Sophomore face-off specialist Phil
Poe (Harwood,Md./DeMatha) controlled 15 of 19 draws in the
contest against a team that entered the game at 61.4 percent.
"[We were] determined to do
whatever it took to win this game," head coach Don
Zimmerman said. " I couldn't be prouder of this
team. They've worked hard. Their attitude is
outstanding-we've had some
tough losses but this is certainly a well deserved win against a
quality Maryland team."
The Retrievers (2-2) entered the fourth quarter trailing, 6-3,
but junior midfielder Scott
Hopmann (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) scored his first goal
of the season just 3:41 into the period. Sophomore
midfielder Conor
Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys' Latin), who assisted on
Hopmann's goal, scored an unassisted tally at the 5:36 mark, and
UMBC tied the game five seconds later, as Poe won the ensuing draw,
raced down the middle of the field and beat Maryland netminder Niko
Amato with a bounce shot from eight yards out.
Held off the scoreboard in the first half, UMBC junior
attackman Scott
Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) scored the go-ahead goal at
the 8:17 mark of the final quarter and added an insurance goal 35
seconds later. Finch set him up perfectly with a dodge and feed on
the seventh goal and the eighth score came from a sharp left- side
angle on a man-up opportunity.
Maryland junior midfielder John Haus brought the visitors
to within 8-7 dodging from behind and scoring an unassisted goal
with 1:31 remaining. The Terrapins won the ensuing draw and came
down four-on-three, but junior netminder Adam
Cohen (Arnold, Md./Severn) stopped attackman Owen
Blye's close range effort.
Maryland had one final chance, but were called for illegal
procedure and turned the ball over with 23 seconds remaining.
Jones led UMBC with two goals and one assist, while Finch posted
his first three points of the season with a goal and two helpers,
all in the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Zach
Linkous added two goals for UMBC.
Haus and Blye led the Terrapins with two goals each.
Maryland jumped out to a 3-0 lead seven minutes into the
contest. Linkous scored back-to-back goals to bring UMBC to within
3-2 at the mid-point of the second quarter, but the Terrapins
countered with two scores in the final 2:07 of the half to take a
5-2 lead to intermission.
Each team scored once in the third quarter to set the stage for
UMBC's comeback.
The Terrapins outshot UMBC, 30-25, but Cohen made six of his
eight saves in the fourth quarter. Amato made four
saves, all in the second quarter, for the visitors. Buoyed by its
face-off success, UMBC captured 40 ground balls to 22 for the
visitors.
In its first two home games, UMBC rallied from multiple goal
deficits to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but lost by a
combined three goals, including Saturday's 10-9 overtime setback
vs. Fairfield.
UMBC has now won four of its last six meetings with the
Terrapins.
The Retrievers now take on No. 2 Johns Hopkins at the
Konica-Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium on
Saturday, March 10.
