BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's lacrosse team put on another defensive clinic on Sunday, throttling a strong Towson offense as the Retrievers ran their record to 4-0 with an 8-4 triumph before 1,428 fans at UMBC Stadium.

The 4-0 start is the Retrievers' first since winning the first five games of the 1992 season. Moreover, the victory was the 400th in the 55th season of intercollegiate competition (400-355).

Entering the game, the Retrievers' scoring defense was the top-ranked unit in NCAA Division I lacrosse, and UMBC lowered that mark to 5.25 with its second consecutive effort allowing four goals.

Junior goalkeeper Jayson Tingue, who also leads the country in goals against average (now 4.82) made eight saves in 60 minutes. But his mates only allowed the Tigers to shoot 24 times, caused ten turnovers and generally harassed the visitors into 27 total miscues.

"You have to give a lot of credit to Coach Chick and Coach Griffin, they work extremely hard in getting things prepared for the team every day," said Head Coach Ryan Moran. "The unit's performance is a reflection of the hard work and sacrifices that the coaches and players put in to be as prepared as they possibly can to defend their opponent each game."

A pair of UMBC midfielders, fifth-year senior Taylor Bohanan and freshman Nick Gutierrez, each scored twice to lead the Retriever offense. UMBC outshot TU, 46-24, but a pair of Tiger goalkeepers amassed 15 saves.

UMBC methodically produced the game's first four goals. Junior attackman Mateo Brown scored an unassisted goal just 3:09 into the game and that score would be the only net-denter of the first quarter.

The defense held TU off the board for the first 26:20 of the game. Sophomore Kevin Doughy scored inside at the 1:50 mark of the second quarter, while Bohanan (6:05) and senior middie Dane Hall (10:06) both buried right-handed perimeter drives to build the UMBC lead.

The Tigers would finally get on the board with 3:40 to play in the first half and the game went to halftime with the hosts leading, 4-1. Gutierrez scored his first of the game at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter, coming from the behind on the left side of the goal and beating the goalkeeper with a hard right-handed shot.   

Towson would respond at 9:55, but goals by sophomore Josh Tang and Bohanan in a span of 30 seconds in the latter stages of the period would put UMBC in command, 7-2, after 45 minutes.

Gutierrez sealed the win with a duplicate move from his earlier goal to give the Retrievers an 8-3 lead with only 5:36 remaining.

The UMBC starting close defense of Ethan Robinson, Tony Diallo and Ben Stephanos combined for 14 ground balls and five caused turnovers. Junior short-stick defensive midfielder Kyle Hoff led the all players with three caused turnovers.

The Retrievers get right back into action as they face Delaware in Newark on Tuesday, March 7. The opening face-off is set for 7:00 p.m.