UMBC at Ohio State Game Notes, Feb. 26 2016
The UMBC men's lacrosse team will travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in non-conference action on Friday, Feb. 26. The contest will be played in Ohio Stadium, "The Horseshoe", and will begin at 5:00 p.m.
The contest will be televised nationally, opening up ESPNU's coverage of collegiate lacrosse in 2016. Eamon McAnaney will do the play-by-play and Quint Kessenich will serve as the analyst in the ninth meeting between the Retrievers and Buckeyes.
Live stats will be available via www.umbcretrievers.com and fans can also follow via the men's lacrosse program's Twitter feed (UMBC_MLacrosse). Access of live stats is also available via UMBC Front Row, UMBC Athletics' mobile website.
In the Retrievers' opener on Feb. 20, Richmond (2-0) took a late first quarter lead and maintained it through the final 45 minutes, as the visiting Spiders edged UMBC men's lacrosse, 7-5.
UMBC junior goalkeeper Connor Gordon excelled in the cage for the hosts, making 12 saves in 60 minutes of work. Junior attackman Max Maxwell was the Retrievers' lone multiple-point scorer, posting a goal and an assist.
The Retrievers were very good on special teams, scoring on two-of-three man-up situations and blanking Richmond in their four chances with the extra-man.
UMBC started three freshmen (Pat Brennan-A, Billy Nolan-M, Jack Andrews-M, all Anne Arundel County products) vs. Richmond... Nolan and Andrews each scored their first collegiate goals… SR A Nate Lewnes' 18-game consecutive goal scoring streak was halted vs. the Spiders... He recorded an assist, and is one point shy of hitting the 100-mark in his career... FR M Luke Ciccarone, grandson of former Hopkins' coach Henry Ciccarone, played extensively as a short-stick defensive middie.
UMBC's scheduled 2016 opener versus Johns Hopkins on Feb. 13 was postponed and will now be played on Wednesday, March 30. The opening face-off at UMBC Stadium is slated for 7:00 p.m. The contests at Ohio State (Fri., Feb. 26, 5 p.m.) and Mount St. Mary's (Tues., Apr. 12, 7 p.m.) have also been altered.
UMBC, which finished the 2015 season at 5-8 and 1-5 in America East, did not qualify for the America East Tournament for the first time in 12 league seasons. The Retrievers suffered a pair of one-goal losses in back-to-back weeks, as they fell, 9-8, in overtime at Hartford on April 4, then saw a five-goal second half lead slip away in an 11-10 setback to Vermont on April 11.
Five starters and 25 letterwinners return from the 2015 squad. 27 of UMBC's 41 players are freshmen or sophomores.
UMBC selected seniors Zach Esser and Nate Lewnes as their team captains for the 2015-16 academic year. Esser is the first UMBC defenseman to earn back-to-back America East First Team honors. Lewnes, an attackman, entered the 2016 campaign with 98 career points, and needs just one more to become the 33rd Retriever to reach the 100-point plateau.
Lewnes, who led UMBC with 31 goals in 2015, reached the 30-goal plateau for the second consecutive season, becoming just the sixth Retriever to accomplish that feat at the Division I level. He was just named to the 2016 Tewaaraton Award Watch List.
Juniors Connor Gordon and Ruston Souder and sophomore David Pisanic are battling for the starting goalkeeper position. Gordon set a UMBC freshman record for saves (167) in 2014, while Souder's 17-save effort versus Lafayette on March 27, 2015 was the most stops in a game for a Retriever netminder since Jeremy Blevins saved 20 Denver attempts in a UMBC victory in March of 2008.
Head Coach Don Zimmerman enters his 23rd season at UMBC and his 30th as a collegiate head coach. Amongst Division I head coaches, the Retriever mentor stands eighth with 233 victories and is 17th in winning percentage at .591 entering the 2015 campaign. In the all-time coaching annuals of Division I lacrosse, Zimmerman is 26th in total victories.
Five teams on the Retriever schedule were ranked in the USILA pre-season Top 20. Johns Hopkins (5th), Ohio State (11th) and Towson (16th) are ranked non-conference foes, while defending America East champion Albany (12th) and Stony Brook (20th) were also tabbed in the coaches' poll. Without playing a game, UMBC received votes in the Week 1 Cascade/Maverik media poll, while Richmond received votes in the USILA/Nike coaches' poll.
Head Coach Don Zimmerman enters his 23rd season at UMBC and his 30th as a collegiate head coach. Amongst Division I head coaches, the Retriever mentor stands eighth with 233 victories and is 17th in winning percentage at .591 entering the 2015 campaign. In the all-time coaching annuals of Division I lacrosse, Zimmerman is 26th in total victories.
Zimmerman piloted the Retrievers to four consecutive NCAA Division I tournament appearances from 2006-09, a feat accomplished for the first time in the school's Division I lacrosse history. In 2009, the Retrievers posted a 12-4 record and won their third America East title in four years. The previous season, UMBC set a new school record with 11 straight wins before a tough 10-9 loss at second-seeded Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Championships. UMBC climbed to a school-record ranking of No. 5 by the USILA in mid-April and was ranked No. 6 in the final poll.
Zimmerman was named America East Conference Coach of the Year by his colleagues in both 2008 and 2009. The Retriever mentor was the 2008 Coach of the Year in LaxPower men's lacrosse Fan Awards, he achieved career win No. 200 in 2010 and is 10th among active coaches with 202 victories in 24 campaigns.
He led UMBC to its first two NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998 and 1999.
Zimmerman's Records
Career Record: 233-162 (30th season)
at UMBC: 160-147 (23rd season)
Scouting the Buckeyes
Ohio State (2-1) opened with victories at Furman (8-7) and versus Detroit (16-5), before falling at UMass, 16-9, on Saturday. UMass outscored the Buckeyes 5-1 in the final quarter, including three late goals, for the 16-9 final. The setback dropped the Buckeyes out of both national polls.
Junior midfielder John Kelly led the Buckeyes with a career-high four goals and five points in the game. It was his fourth career multiple-goal game. He shares the team scoring lead with classmate attackman JT Blubaugh with five goals and seven points each.
The Series
UMBC leads the all-time series, 6-2, but today's game marks the first meeting since 2009. The two squads played each year between 2003 and 2009. The series has been marked by extremely tight games. Seven of the eight contests have been decided by three goals or less and five (included four of the last five) have been decided in overtime. UMBC won the first-ever meeting, 14-13, in triple overtime in 1992. UMBC also won in double overtime in 2004 (8-7) and 2008 (12-11), but OSU captured am 8-7 victory in two extra sessions at Johns Hopkins University in 2005.
The two teams have split the two meetings in Columbus, with OSU prevailing, 12-9, in 2003 and UMBC posting a 12-11 double-OT victory in 2008.
UP NEXT
UMBC makes the short journey to Towson for a contest with No. 13 Towson on Saturday, March 5. A 1 p.m. face-off is slated for Johnny Unitas Stadium.
