BALTIMORE – Behind a hot offensive hand in the second half, the UMBC women's lacrosse team snapped a two-game losing streak and defeated the visiting Vermont Catamounts, 16-14, on Saturday afternoon. The Retrievers move to 10-5 overall and 2-3 in America East play, while the Catamounts fall to 4-10 on the season and 0-5 in conference contests.

Out of halftime, Vermont scored two straight to increase its lead to 10-7 before UMBC rattled off three straight goals to tie the game up at 10-all.

Junior Payton Van Kirk (Ocean City, Md./Stephen Decatur) started the mini-run as she scored off a feed from senior Carolyn Jamison (Westminster, Md./Westminster), before senior Caitlin Miller (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) and Jamison each netted goals. Vermont would end the run and take the 11-10 lead with 20:28 remaining in the game.

Just 23 seconds later, Miller scored off a feed from senior Kalyn Crocetti (Joppa, Md./Maryvale Preparatory) to start a four-goal UMBC run. Jamison, Van Kirk, and sophomore Zoë Pekins (Columbia, Md./Hammond) each scored during the spurt that helped the Retrievers take a 14-11 lead over the Catamounts.

Vermont ended the run with a free position goal, but Van Kirk and Miller each scored again to give UMBC a 16-12 advantage. The Catamounts scored twice with under 10 minutes left to play, but were unable to mount the comeback.

The contest started with a Vermont goal before freshman Kristyn Staley (Middletown, Md./Middletown) and Jamison netted back-to-back goals for UMBC.

The Catamounts and Retrievers exchanged goals to keep the game tied at 4-4, with juniors Lauren McDonald (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) and Catherine Sims (Elkridge, Md./Howard), off an assist from Crocetti, each scoring.

Vermont took a 6-4 lead off two free position shots before Van Kirk and Jamison each scored to tie things back up at 6-all. The Catamounts would score twice before the end of the period to take an 8-6 lead, but Van Kirk closed the gap to one before the half, scoring off a pass from Miller with just seven seconds left before the half.

On the day, Jamison led all players with six points off four goals and two assists, followed by Van Kirk with five points (5g).   Junior Kayla Renehan (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg) led the Retrievers with four caused turnovers, while McDonald and Van Kirk led the team with four ground balls.

In goal, senior Kelsey Major (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) moved to 7-4 on the season after playing 41:36 in goal and making three saves. Junior Carly Tolino (Middletown, Md./Middletown) also saw action in net. For Vermont, Maddy Kuras made 11 saves in all 60 minutes of action.

The Retrievers will return to the field on Saturday, April 21 as they hit the road for the final time this season to face #1 Stony Brook. The opening draw is set for 3 p.m. at LaValle Stadium.