Burlington, Vt. – UMBC men's lacrosse fought valiantly against the America East Conference defending and regular champions, but the host Vermont Catamounts edged the Retrievers, 13-11, to capture the 2022 league title.

UMBC (6-7) led, 7-6, at halftime, but a 4-0 surge by Vermont (11-6) to open the third quarter put Vermont ahead to stay. The Retrievers came within 10-9 late in the third quarter and 11-10 with 9:53 remaining, but could not capitalize on four opportunities in the final quarter to knot the score.  

The Retrievers lost five of their first seven games, before winning four of five to compete in their eighth America East Championship game in 18 league seasons.

"I really believe the guys in that locker room embody choosing a hard right over an easy wrong," said head coach Ryan Moran. "When you do that, you improve a lot and I believe our season displayed that. We got to our championship game in our conference and played a really talented, experience team that is well-coached.

"We knew it was going to be a hard fought game. I am super proud of the effort we put forth and be able to compete with them for a full 60 minutes. We didn't come out on top on the scoreboard, but there are tons of positives, how hard we played, how much we improved and I am looking forward to the future with the number of people we have coming back.  

Sophomore attackman Brian Tregoning (Silver Spring, Md.) led the gritty UMBC effort with three goals, while a pair of freshmen – Kevin Doughty (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg) and Josh Tang (Crofton, Md./Archbishop Spalding) added two goals apiece.

Tregoning, Tang and graduate student defenseman Colin Kasner (Croton, Md./DeMatha) were selected to the All-Tournament team.

Up against one of the nation's top face-off specialists, sophomore Zach Dudley () won 13-of-27 draws and tied for game high honors with seven ground balls. Sophomore goalkeeper Jayson Tingue (Bay Shore, N.Y.) made 10 saves in his second career start against a very experienced and explosive Catamount squad.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Each team had a couple of quality chances early, but the Retrievers drew iron on a shot and Tingue came up with two early saves. The Catamounts broke the ice, as Thomas McConvey picked up a loose ball after a UMBC check and scored at the 10:03 mark.
• Kevin Doughty briefly equalized the score, taking a pass behind the net and coming out front to tally at the 4:25 mark. But the Catamounts finalized the first quarter scoring, again with McConvey coming up with a loose ball to score 49 seconds later.
• UMBC forged ties at 2-2 and 3-3 early in the second quarter, then scored three additional goals in a 4-0 run which gave the visitors a 6-3 lead with 2:51 to play in the first half. Tregoning and Tang scored four of UMBC's six second quarter goals.
• But the Catamounts tallied three times in the span of 46 seconds to knot the score at 6-6 with 1:09 to play in the half before Brett Baucia made a crafty move and came out front to give the Retrievers a 7-6 lead with 10.6 seconds to play in the first half.
• The Catamounts scored three times in a 60-second span as part of a 4-0 run, which gave them a 10-7 lead with 5:05 to play in the third quarter. But Tregoning completed his hat trick and Mike Doughty scored late in the shot clock in the final minute of the period to cut the UMBC deficit to 10-9 after 45 minutes.
• After tournament MVP Thomas McConvey scored his third goal of the game at the 2:27 mark, Kevin Doughty answered 2:40 later to once again cut the deficit to a single goal.
• Bohanan and Tregoning each attempted shots on the goal in an attempt to tie the score, but Vermont came up with saves on each and the Catamounts scored with 6:05 and 2:47 left to seal the victory.

NOTES

• Vermont had won the regular season meeting versus UMBC, 12-3, and the Catamounts smallest previous margin of victory over an America East team this season was seven in a 17-10 win over Binghamton.
• Vermont enjoyed narrow statistical margins in shots (40-35), ground balls (31-30) and saves (12-10).
• In his UMBC finale, Kasner caused three turnovers and ended his career with 69, third-best on UMBC's all-time list.
• Mike Doughty, Baucia and Bohahan each contributed a goal and an assist.