BALTIMORE - UMBC hosts UAlbany in an America East tilt on Saturday afternoon at UMBC Stadium. The Retrievers return home for the first time since February 20 versus Loyola (Md.) UMBC sits 1-5 and 0-1 in America East play after a 10-5 loss at Vermont on Saturday. UAlbany comes to Baltimore with a 3-4 record, sitting 1-0 in conference play after opening with a 13-7 victory over Bryant on Saturday.
Saturday's meeting will be the 32nd all-time meeting between UAlbany and UMBC. The Great Danes hold an 18-13 record over the Retrievers with a 7-3 record in the last 10 meetings. UMBC defeated UAlbany in overtime (13-12) in last season's regular-season contest before falling to the Great Danes (7-9) in the America East playoffs.
LAST TIME OUT
- Ryan Demato recorded a first-half hat trick and finished with his second four-goal game of the season in Saturday's 10-5 loss to Vermont in UMBC's America East Conference opener. The Retrievers drop to 1-5 on the season, while Vermont improves to 3-3. Jake Kucinski and Zack Johnson handed out assists for the Retrievers in the contest. UMBC had the advantage at the face-off X, as Alex Steers won 10-of-16 face-offs for UMBC. Steers had a game-high seven ground balls. Jameson Coffman caused three turnovers and picked up two ground balls for UMBC, while Dylan Hendrix added four ground balls and a caused turnover.
- The University at Albany men's lacrosse team dominated the Bryant Bulldogs at Casey Stadium to open up conference play, winning 13-7. Silas Richmond tallied seven points on four goals and three assists, all of which were team-highs. Koleton Marquis added three points on a goal and two assists, followed by Brendan O'Keefe and Teharonhiorens McComber with two points each. Cade Galko led the team with five ground balls, followed by Jacob Smith with four. Goalie Brady Smith tallied 12 saves for a .632 save percentage and also added a goal.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
- UMBC Men's Lacrosse senior Alex Steers has been named the America East Face-Off Specialist of the Week, the Conference announced on Monday morning. Steers won 10-of-16 face-offs and had a game-high seven ground balls for the Retrievers in their loss at Vermont. Steers is the second Retriever this season to earn an America East weekly honor this season, joining Dante Marinello, who was named Defensive Player of the Week.
SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES
- UAlbany comes to Baltimore with a 3-4 record overall after opening up America East play with a victory over Bryant. The Great Danes have played an extremely tough non-conference schedule with games against #4 Cornell and #15 Georgetown.
- The 2025 America East Offensive Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American (Inside Lacrosse, USA Lacrosse), Silas Richmond is the top dog for the Great Danes, ranking fifth in the country in points per game at 5.29. Richmond also ranks sixth in Division I in assists per game at 2.57. The senior has 19 goals and 18 assists this season. He has four or more points in six of the team's seven games.
- UAlbany has three other offensive players joining Richmond with 10 or more goals this season. Koleton Marqius (13), Ryan Doherty (12), and Jackson Palumb (12) all have 12 or more goals and 15 or more points for UAlbany. Marquis has a pair of four-goal, five-point efforts against Drexel and Hobart. Doherty had a four-goal, five-point effort against Cornell, as did Palumb.
- Three Great Danes have caused at least 12 turnovers this season, led by Max Neeson with 13. Neeson also has 11 ground balls and a goal scored this season. Neeson caused three turnovers in three different games this season. Jacob Smith and Cade Galko have each caused 12 turnovers for UAlbany this season. Smith had a monster day against Drexel, scoring two goals, causing five turnovers, and picking up eight ground balls. Galko has four games this season with multiple caused turnovers, including three against Drexel.
- Brady Smith is in goal for the Great Danes. Smith has made 60 saves this season and allowed 11.87 goals per game. Smith has ticked up recently, making 25 saves in the last two contests versus Georgetown and Bryant.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- With a pair of four-goal games this season, and four straight games with at least two goals, Ryan Demato paces UMBC with 13 goals. The junior has added two assists to the cause as well and recently matched his career-high with four goals against Vermont last Saturday. He had his first career four-goal game earlier this season against Mount St. Mary's.
- The Retrievers have three players with ar least 13 points this season as Jake Kucinski and Connor Chick join Demato atop the UMBC points list. Kucinski is tied with Demato for the team lead at 15, while Chick has added 13 points this season. Kucinski has a point in five of six games this season, adding seven goals and eight assists. He has multi-goal games again Drexel, Towson, and Hofstra. Chick has seven goals and six assists, dishing out three assists in the season-opener against Drexel and then scoring a hat trick against Hofstra. He has at least one point in every game this season.
- Senior Casey Pung leads three Retrievers with six or more caused turnovers this season. Pung has eight caused turnovers, 16 ground balls, and an assist this season for UMBC. Sophomore captain Jameson Coffman has added two goals and nine ground balls to go with six caused turnovers, while fellow captain Dante Marinello had six caused turnovers, seven ground balls, a goal, and an assist.
- Alex Steers became the second Retriever to earn an America East weekly award this season as he won 10-of-16 face-offs on Saturday at Vermont, picking up seven ground balls in the effort. Steers has won at least 10 face-offs in five of six games this season and leads the Retrievers with 32 ground balls. Steers joins Marinello as the award recipients after the senior earned Defensive Player of the Week honors earlier this season.
- Connor McMahon has made 54 saves this season and holds an 11.00 GAA through six games. McMahon has had at least seven saves in each game this year, topping out at 11 versus Loyola (Md.) on Feb. 20.
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
