Box Score Video Highlights
BALTIMORE - The UMBC men's lacrosse team never trailed No. 16 Vermont and held off a late Catamount rally to prevail, 10-8, in cool conditions at UMBC Stadium.
The Retrievers improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in America East play, tying Vermont (4-3, 4-1 AE) for first place in the conference.
The 5-1 start is UMBC's best since 1992, when they won eight of their first nine games in a 10-5 campaign.
The Retrievers held the Catamounts to their lowest scoring total of the season. Vermont was ranked seventh in the nation entering the game with 15.2 goals per contest and their eight goals scored were four fewer than their previous low in a 15-12 opening loss at Bryant.
UMBC freshman midfielder Brian Tregoning (Silver Spring, Md./Good Counsel) led a balanced attack, posting his first career three-goal game. Junior midfielder Brandon Galloway (Grasonville, Md./Queen Anne's) and sophomore attackman Nick Dupuis (Alexandria, Va.) added two goals apiece and senior attackman Ryan Frawley (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) extended his scoring streak to 31 with a goal and two assists.
Senior goalkeeper Tommy Lingner (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) made four of his 11 saves in the final 15 minutes as Vermont cut a 10-5 deficit to 10-8 with 7:05 remaining.
The Catamounts won the ensuing face-off after cutting the gap to a pair of goals, but Lingner made a pair of saves on Michael McCormick shots with 6:04 and 3:08 remaining. Vermont got a man-up opportunity with 2:25 to play, but Linger stopped a Thomas McConvey shot 16 seconds into the penalty and the visitors would not regain possession until 15 seconds remained.
UMBC took a 2-0 lead on goals by Tregoining and junior defensive midfielder Keith Dukes (Bowie, Md./DeMatha) six minutes into the game, but Vermont knotted the score at 2-2 before Dupuis gave the hosts the lead for good with 2:36 remaining in the first period.
That goal started the first 3-0 UMBC run of the game, but Vermont trimmed the deficit to 6-4 at halftime.
After an exchange of goals to open the third period, Tregoning and Frawley scored 22 seconds apart late in the frame to give the Retrievers a 9-5 lead. Junior middie Taylor Bohanan (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) converted Frawley's goal-line extended pass to provide UMBC's largest lead of the day, prior to the rally by the Catamounts.
Griffen Fenech led Vermont with a goal and three assists. Goalkeeper Ryan Cornell matched Lingner with 11 saves and face-off specialist Tommy Burke captured 15-of-22 draws.
UMBC now leads the all-time series, 14-4.
UMBC returns to action when they travel to Albany, New York and take on the Great Danes on Sunday, April 11 at noon.