The UMBC men's lacrosse team makes another short road trip on Saturday, March 5 when they take on the Towson Tigers at Unitas Stadium. The opening face-off is slated for noon and the game will be streamed on FloSports ($).

UMBC (1-1) opened the campaign with a solid 12-8 home win over preseason No. 17 Drexel on Feb. 19, but dropped a heartbreaking 9-8 decision at Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 25. The Retrievers received votes (7, T30) in both the
USILA poll and media poll (RV) on Feb. 21.

Graduate student attackman Brett Baucia (Crofton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) leads UMBC through two games with five goals and one assist. Junior attackman Mike Doughty (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg) (4g) and senior linemate Jack Thomas (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) (2g, 2a) have contributed four points apiece.

Senior goalkeeper Tommy Lingner (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) stands fourth in the nation in goals against average (8.09) and 13th in the nation in save percentage at 57.9. Sophomore face-off specialist Zach Dudley (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) is 26th nationally in face-off percentage at 58.5 and tied for 21st with 7.0 ground balls per game.  

As a team, UMBC ranks…
·       T5th in scoring defense (8.5)
·       15th in face off percentage (58.1)
 
NOTES FROM THE MOUNT GAME
·       UMBC never led in the game, but they cut a four-goal halftime deficit (5-1) to one on two occasions in the fourth quarter.
 
·       Thomas led a balanced attack with a goal and two assists. Mike Doughty was the lone multiple Retriever goal scorer with a pair.
 
·       The Retrievers scored three man-up goals (3/5) for the first time since April 27, 2019 (an 11-9 win at Hartford).
 
RETRIEVER NOTEBOOK
·       The America East Conference tabbed UMBC graduate student attackman Brett Baucia as its Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 21, 2022. Baucia scored a career-high four goals on a completely re-tooled attack unit in UMBC's opening 12-8 win over preseason No. 17 Drexel on Feb. 19. He directed seven of 10 shots on cage and scrapped for a career-best five ground balls in the victory.
 
·       The Retrievers have outscored their foes, 14-9, in the fourth quarter so far in 2022. 14 of UMBC's 20 goals have occurred after halftime.
 
·       UMBC's five home games and any home playoff action in 2022 will be played on the grass surface of Retriever Soccer Park. The UMBC Stadium Complex (https://fm.umbc.edu/umbc-stadium-upgrades-project-need-to-know/) is currently undergoing major upgrades and construction will continue through the spring months.
 
·       The 2021 UMBC Retrievers posted a record of 8-3 and captured a share of the America East regular season title. UMBC played only one non-conference game before winning seven of nine league games. The Retrievers faced Stony Brook and Binghamton twice, sweeping the Seawolves in a pair of overtime thrillers and splitting one-goal decisions in a four-day span versus the Bearcats. The (share of the) regular season title was UMBC's first since 2009 and fifth in the program's 17-year America East history. UMBC's seven America East victories set a new program record and the eight wins overall was the most since an 8-7 campaign in 2014. UMBC dropped a 14-12 decision to UAlbany in the semifinals of the America East Tournament.
 
·       UMBC was ranked in the USILA Top 20 on three occasions in 2021, peaking at No. 17 after the regular season.
 
·       Eight of UMBC's 11 games in 2021 were decided by three goals or fewer. UMBC was 3-1 in overtime games.
 
·       UMBC is 17-5 over its last 22 regular season contests (dating back to 2019).
 
·       The UMBC men's lacrosse team has selected fifth-year senior goalkeeper Tommy Lingner (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) and senior midfielder Taylor Bohanan (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) as its captains for the 2022 spring campaign. Both players are first-year captains.
 
·       Lingner allowed only 9.18 goals per game in 2021, leading America East and finishing sixth in the nation. As a freshman, the Retriever netminder led the country with a 7.33 GAA. Lingner has moved into seventh place on UMBC's all-time saves list with 392.

• Graduate student Colin Kasner (Crofton, Md./DeMatha) has vaulted into third place on UMBC's all-time list with 59 caused turnovers.

·       UMBC suffered heavy losses on its attack unit, with fifth-years Ryan Frawley and Brett McIntyre and senior Trevor Patschorke earning degrees. The trio combined for 291 points during their tenures on Hilltop Circle.
 
·       Freshman attackman Josh Tang (Crofton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) could step into a prominent role in 2022. Inside Lacrosse unveiled its Power 100 Incoming Freshman Rankings for the Class of 2022 and Tang earned the No. 82 spot amongst the nation's elite first-year players.
 
·       UMBC will face Utah for the first-time and took on Drexel for the first time since 1995.
 
·       Fresh off winning its first-ever America East men's lacrosse title in 2021, Vermont is the preseason favorite to top the standings in 2022. The Retrievers were picked fourth, by just two points behind second-place Stony Brook. UMBC received the only first place vote which did not go to the Catamounts.
 
·       Ryan Moran enters his sixth season at the helm of the Retrievers. He earned America East Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2021 after leading the squad to a share of the regular season title. He has led the Retrievers to the league playoffs in four of the five full years of competition. As the No. 4 seed, Moran piloted the 2019 team to an America East title and a NCAA Tournament win over Marist.  Moran is 31-30 overall and 16-11 in America East play.
 
·       Nick Griffin, UMBC '21, has joined the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant. Griffin has been a member of the Retriever men's lacrosse program since the fall of 2016. As a sophomore in the spring of 2018, the defenseman became the first UMBC men's lacrosse NCAA Division I student-athlete to tabbed to the Google Cloud Academic All-American team. Griffin was named the team's captain in both 2020 and 2021. Griffin joins Joe Bucci and Craig Chick on the UMBC sidelines this season.
 
A GLANCE AT THE TIGERS  
·       Towson (2-3) outscored host Loyola Maryland, 5-2, in the second half and defeated the Greyhounds, 11-8, on Wednesday evening. Attackman Luke Shilling and midfielder Kyle Berkeley each produced three goals in the game for the Tigers.
 
·       Both UMBC and Towson have faced Mount St. Mary's in 2022. The Retrievers fell, 9-8, in Emmitsburg, while Towson prevailed, 13-8, at home on Feb. 15.
 
·       The Tigers are averaging 12.0 goals per game and allowing 13.6 through five games. They have been very efficient on man-up, scoring 8 goals in 16 opportunities. Towson is winning 42.5 percent of its face-offs to date.
 
·       Junior attackman and Maryland transfer Nick DeMaio leads three Tigers in double figures goal scoring with 15 through five games. Berkeley (11g, 8a) and senior attackman James Avanzato (10g, 9a) share the team lead with 19 points each. Senior goalkeeper Shane Brennan has made all five starts and is maintaining a 50.4 save percentage and 12.71 goals against average.
 
SERIES NOTES AND A LOOK AT THE 2020 ENCOUNTER
·       This will be the 51st meeting between UMBC and Towson and the Retrievers snapped a seven-game slide with a 10-5 victory on Hilltop Circle in 2020. Towson leads the all-time series, 34-16.
 
·       UMBC scored the game's final seven goals and rallied from a 5-3 third quarter deficit to defeat Towson, 10-5, in front of 957 at UMBC Stadium on March 3, 2020. It was the penultimate game for the Retrievers that season. They would compete versus High Point four days later before the season was halted due to COVID-19.
 
·       Current Retrievers Taylor Bohanan, Dane Hall and Jack Thomas all scored single goals in the game, Tommy Lingner made seven saves and Alex Poma won 13-of-18 face-offs. UMBC held Towson to 12 shots on goal in the contest.  
 
·       The Retrievers have dropped seven straight games at Unitas Stadium, with the last victory occurring in 2003.
 
UP NEXT

UMBC returns home to face Utah for the first time ever. The two teams square off at Retriever Soccer Park on Friday, March 11 with a 7:00 p.m. face-off on tap.