BALTIMORE - The Retrievers host Bryant on Saturday in search of their first America East win of the season in the Ulman Foundation Better Together Game. UMBC dropped its first two league games of the year to Vermont and UAlbany. Bryant is 1-1 in America East play, defeating Vermont after dropping its league opener to UAlbany.
Saturday's meeting will be the fourth meeting between UMBC and Bryant in program history, all coming since the Bulldogs joined the America East. Bryant has taken two of the three meetings, including a 12-7 win in Rhode Island last season. Zac Amend totaled four points (3 goals, 1 assist) in last year's win for Bryant, while Josh Tang recorded a multi-goal day for UMBC. Trey Fleece caused three turnovers and picked up eight ground balls for the Retrievers. UMBC won the 2024 matchup, 13-12 in overtime, as Nick Gutierrez scored the winning goal.
LAST TIME OUT
- Junior attackman Ryan Demato produced his third hat trick of the season, but the UMBC men's lacrosse team dropped a 10-6 America East decision against the UAlbany Great Danes on Saturday afternoon at UMBC Stadium. Goalie Connor McMahon kept the Retrievers within striking distance as the redshirt senior turned aside 11 shots and was credited with four ground balls.
- Zac Amend recorded four goals to lift the Bryant University men's lacrosse team to a win over Vermont, 11-8, on Saturday evening. Dawson Rielly recorded two goals and one assist. Luca Elmaleh recorded four ground balls, two goals and one assist. Luke Krebs forced a Vermont turnover in the last minute of game to keep the Catamounts out of reach.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
- Bryant comes to Baltimore with a 3-4 record, going 1-1 in America East play with a win over Vermont and a loss to UAlbany. The program's non-conference wins came over Quinnipiac and St. John's.
- Four players have already tallied 11 goals for Bryant, combining for 49 of the team's 66 goals. Zac Amend tops the team with 14 goals and 22 points, followed by Dawson Rielly (13), Owen West (11), and Caden Lennon (11). Amend has five multi-goal games this season, scoring four in the victory over Vermont on Saturday. The 2025 America East Rookie of the Year scored 24 goals and added nine assists a year ago. Rielly, a preseason all-conference selection, put home four goals against Quinnipiac and has four multi-goal games. The redshirt junior scored 41 goals last season. West, a sophomore from Rockville Centre, N.Y., has a four-goal game this season against St. John's, while Lennon, a redshirt freshman, had four goals against Quinnipiac.
- James Carr has been busy in goal for Bryant, making 83 saves in seven games. Carr was tremendous against Quinnipiac, making 20 saves and allowing just seven goals. Carr has five games with 10 or more saves this season.
- Luke Krebs and Jack McCloskey have each caused 10 turnovers for Bryant this season, while preseason all-conference choice Luke Mead has caused six despite missing a game. Krebs has three games with two caused turnovers, and McCloskey has three, including a game with three caused turnovers.
- JJ Murphy has won 54.2 percent of his face-offs, taking 52-96 at the x this season. He won a season-high 13 against Providence to open the season and has a pair of games with 12 against St. John's and UAlbany. Jordan Hernando has also received extensive work, winning 29-of-66 face-offs.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- The Retrievers have dropped the first two league games of the season against Vermont and UAlbany, playing both tough before ultimatelly falling short. UMBC held a 4-3 lead midway through the second quarter in the America East opener at Vermont, but the Catamounts used a string of six straight goals to pull away. Last Saturday's game featured a high-scoring first quarter, but the pace slowed down and UMBC couldn't fully claw back against UAlbany.
- Ryan Demato continues a torrid stretch for the UMBC offense. The junior attackman has scored multiple goals in five straight games, recording three games of three or more goals during that stretch. Most recently, Demato had a five-point day against the Great Danes, scoring a first-half hat trick and dishing out two assists. The New Jersey native currently ranks fifth in the America East with 16 goals and seventh with 20 points.
- Jake Kucinski and Connor Chick round out the top offensive group, sitting with 16 and 15 points respectively. Kucinski has a point in all but one game, but has been kept out of the net in the first two league games. Chick has a point in every game this season and has scored three goals in America East play.
- Alex Steers became the second Retriever to earn an America East weekly award this season as he won 10-of-16 face-offs last 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 34 ground balls. Steers joins Dante Marinello as the award recipients after the senior earned Defensive Player of the Week honors earlier this season. Steers enters the weekend with 80 face-off wins and a 57.1 win percentage.
- Four Retrievers have caused at least five turnovers so far this season. Casey Pung tops the list with eight for UMBC, thanks to a monster performance against Loyola (Md.) with four caused turnovers. Marinello has caused seven turnovers, and also added his second goal of the season on Saturday. Jameson Coffman has six caused turnovers and two goals, while Dylan Hendrix has five caused turnovers and 15 ground balls.
- Connor McMahon has made 65 saves this season and holds a 10.86 GAA through seven games. McMahon has had at least seven saves in each game this year, topping out at 11 versus Loyola (Md.) and UAlbany.
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
