BALTIMORE - UMBC men's lacrosse opens up America East play at Vermont on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. UMBC enters the conference season 1-4 on the 2026 season after a tough one-goal loss at Hofstra on Saturday. Vermont comes into the contest 2-3 after a 7-6 loss at #19 UMass on Saturday.
Saturday's meeting will be the 25th all-time between the Catamounts and the Retrievers. UMBC holds the all-time series lead 15-9 after winning last year's meeting by three goals. The Retrievers scored the first five goals of the game last March, getting a Jordan Galloway hat trick before the 10-minute mark of the second period.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC fought back from down five goals with 8:08 to play in the third quarter to pull within one in the final 15 seconds, but Hofstra held on for an 11-10 victory on Saturday at Rams Field. Connor Chick recorded a hat trick for the Retrievers with a pair of goals coming from Ryan Demato and Jake Kucinski. Kucinski also added two assists for UMBC. Down 10-5 in the third, Chick snuck one past Shea Kennedy with 6:37 to play, scoring off a feed from Casey Pung to pull UMBC within four. Just over a minute later, Demato scored his first goal of the game to trim the gap to three goals.
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Decker led the Catamounts with two goals and added a ground ball. Frattaroli, Goldstein, Whitaker, and Stevens each scored a goal. Walter Zhao collected a team-high 10 ground balls and went 15-for-17 on faceoffs. Jack Combs and Zack Toll were second on the team with three ground balls apiece, while Kean Pare recorded Vermont's lone assist.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
- UMBC senior captain Dante Marinello was named America East Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career after a strong week for the Retrievers. A 2025 All-America East Second Team selection and a 2026 America East Preseason All-Conference selection, Marinello totaled four caused turnovers, three ground balls, and scored a goal in a 1-1 week for UMBC. On Tuesday afternoon, Marinello scored the game-tying goal with 9:10 to play in the 7-4 victory over Mount St. Mary's. The goal was the second of Marinello's career. Marinello also tied for the team-high with two caused turnovers and added three ground balls in the win. He then followed up on that performance by causing two more turnovers on Friday night at Towson.
SCOUTING THE CATAMOUNTS
- The Catamounts hold victories over Queens (N.C.) and Quinnipiac with losses to #9 Duke, Dartmouth, and #19 UMass.
- In just four games this season, Max Frattaroli leads the Catamounts with 10 goals and is tied for the team lead with 12 points. The Canadian opened the season with two goals and two assists versus Queens and followed it up with seven goals in two games against Dartmouth and Quinnipiac. Frattaroli was an America East All-Rookie selection in 2024. He has 57 goals in 22 career games.
- Tied with Frattarolli for the team lead with 12 points are Ethan Pearson and Zack Toll. Pearson has five goals and seven assists, handing out three assists apiece versus Queens and Dartmouth. Toll has three goals and nine assists in his first season after a three-goal, five-assist day vs. Quinnipiac.
- Walter Zhao has been dominant at the face-off X this season, winning 67.6 percent of his face-offs. He won 19-of-22 against Queens and 15-of-17 against UMass. He leads the team with 43 ground balls.
- A former All-America East and All-Rookie Team selection, Jack Combs leads Vermont with 12 caused turnovers in just five games. Combs caused five turnovers against UMass and had a season-high nine ground balls versus Dartmouth.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- The team's leading goal scorer, Ryan Demato, has nine goals this season despite not scoring in the season opener. Demato has three consecutive multi-goal games, starting with a four-goal performance in the victory over Mount St. Mary's. Demato has 23 goals in 18 career games after scoring 13 in his sophomore season.
- St. Bonaventure transfer, Jake Kucinski, leads UMBC in points this season with 14. Kucinski has multiple points in four of five games, scoring nine points in his last two outings against Towson and Hofstra.
- Connor Chick makes it three Retrievers with double-digit points this season, totaling 12 with six goals and six assists. Chick recorded a hat trick in the most recent game against Hofstra and added two goals and an assist versus Towson.
- Casey Pung leads the defensive effort with eight caused turnovers and an assist in five games this season. Pung has caused a turnover in every game this season and set a new career-high with four caused against Loyola (Md.).
- Dante Marinello has caused six turnovers, scored a goal, and added an assist as a senior captain for UMBC this season. Marinello was named the America East Defensive Player of the Week two Mondays ago.
- Alex Steers has won nearly 58 percent of his face-offs on the season, most recently winning 16-of-22 face-offs against Hofstra.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
- RETURNERS - #0 Noah Hall, #1 Corey Myers, #2 Zack Johnson, #3 Mike Dunleavy, #5 Justin Webber, #6 Ryan Demato, #8 Cam Dick, #9 Braden Smith, #10 Nick Gutierrez, #11 Conner Layden, #12 Casey Pung, #13 Connor Chick, #14 Gavin Batelka, #15 Keegan Ryan, #17 Alec Howard, #18 Logan Earl, #20 Dante Marinello, #21 Connor McMahon, #22 Kevin Bredeck, #23 Dylan Sharpe, #24 Zach Coyle, #28 Ayden Davis, #30 Billy Stephens, #31 Griffen McNeir, #33 Dylan Hendrix, #36 Josh Schrader, #38 Landon Greenberg, #39 Alex Steers, #40 Nathan Ward, #43 Xander Maxwell, #44 Logan Duffy, #55 Jameson Coffman
- TRANSFERS - #50 Jake Kucinski, #53 Ethan Wiech
- FRESHMEN - #4 Grant Mauldin, #16 Thomas Keating, #19 Todd Freeman, #25 Paulo Vazquez, #26 Elliott McClendon, #27 Caiden Merritt, #34 Drew Lapointe, #45 Jack Fish, #49 Than Souza
2025 IN REWIND
- UMBC opened up the season with victories over Drexel and Mount St. Mary's, beginning the year 2-0 for the second time in three seasons. The Retrievers dropped games to Towson and #13 Richmond before opening up America East play on March 15.
- The Retrievers opened up league play with victories over Vermont and UAlbany, taking wins by final scores of 10-7 and 13-12 in overtime. UMBC fell at Bryant, 12-7, its lone America East regular season loss.
- The Dawgs bonced back with wins over UMass Lowell and Binghamton at home before winning 19-11 at NJIT. UMBC finished off the regular season with a neutral site loss to Holy Cross before heading to Smithfield, Rhode Island for the America East Championships. UMBC fell 9-7 in a rematch of the regular season thriller with UAlbany. The Retrievers led 6-3 in the second, but UAlbany scored six of the final seven goals to come away victorious.
AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
1. UAlbany - 40 (6)
2. Bryant - 29 (1)
3. Vermont - 24
4. UMBC - 21
5. Binghamton - 18
6. UMass Lowell - 8
7. NJIT - 7
WHAT'S NEXT
