Newark, N.J. - The UMBC men's lacrosse team clinched at least an America East Conference co-regular-season title in their league finale after overpowering the NJIT Highlanders, 19-11, on Saturday afternoon at Lubetkin Field. The Retrievers will be the outright champions and host the conference tournament at UMBC Stadium if Bryant suffers a defeat next weekend at UMass Lowell.
UMBC (7-3, 5-1 AE) received big performances up and down the lineup en route to their highest scoring output of the campaign. Senior midfielder
Jordan Galloway paced the squad with six points (2 goals, four assists) to increase his scoring streak to 22 straight contests. Junior attackman
Connor Chick (three goals, assist) recorded his team-high fifth hat-trick of the season, while senior attacker
Tyler Barnett and freshman attackman
Nathan Ward also registered hat-tricks. Sophomore midfielder
Corey Myers and sophomore attackman
Ryan Demato added two goals apiece.
Junior
Alex Steers won 18-of-28 face-offs and picked up a career-best nine ground balls, while senior midfielder
Trey Fleece added five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. Junior goalie
Connor McMahon turned away 11 shots, his fifth game with double-figure saves this season.
The Dawgs broke an early 1-1 tie by scoring three straight goals to grab a 4-1 advantage with 8:08 left in the opening quarter. NJIT closed to within 4-2 a minute later, but the visitors went on a 5-2 burst to grab a 9-4 advantage at intermission. Chick ignited the stretch with an assist on Ward's first tally and scored two straight to cap the run. Sophomore midfielder
Dylan Sharpe and Galloway also found the back of the net during the stretch. It was Sharpe's first career goal.
The Highlanders (1-10, 0-5 AE) scored the first three goals of the third quarter to inch within 9-7 at the 8:26 mark. However, Barnett scored back-to-back unassisted markers, and Myers (Galloway assist) followed as the Retrievers answered right back.
UMBC, who last won the regular-season title in 2021, put the game away in the fourth quarter by outscoring the hosts by a 6-3 margin.
Will Labartino scored a game-high four goals to lead the Highlanders, who are now 0-5 against the Retrievers.
UMBC will complete the regular season against Holy Cross on Thursday in Metuchen, New Jersey (Saint Joseph High School).
