BALTIMORE - After dropping its first two America East games, UMBC men's lacrosse has responded with back-to-back victories, and will head to Binghamton in search of a third straight win on Saturday at 12 p.m. UMBC sits at 3-6 overall and 2-2 in the league, while Binghamton is 2-8 with a 1-2 record in the league.
Saturday's matchup will be the 30th between the two programs, with UMBC holding a 19-10 edge in the all-time series. The Retrievers won last year's matchup 17-7 on April 12, 2025, and the two programs have split the last 10 meetings. UMBC jumped out to an 8-3 halftime lead in last year's contest, closing out a 10-goal victory, as Ryan Demato, Connor Chick, and Tyler Barnett each recorded hat tricks. Alex Steers won 19-of-25 face-offs and tied Trey Fleece with a game-high seven ground balls. Connor McMahon made 10 saves in the victory.
LAST TIME OUT
- UMBC made it back-to-back wins in the America East with a dominant 18-4 victory over UMass Lowell on Saturday afternoon. Leading 3-2 after the opening quarter, UMBC scored six goals in the first five minutes of the second quarter to break the game open. UMBC topped its previous season-high of 12 goals in the first half with its 13 goals. Saturday marked UMBC's first game with 13 goals in a half since they scored 13 in the second half of an 18-7 win over Lafayette in 2015.
- Binghamton was defeated by UAlbany 16-5 Saturday at Bob Ford Field at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium. Andrew Girolamo led the Bearcats with two goals, bringing his team-leading total to 24 this season. John Angelicola collected his first collegiate goal and assist Saturday. Additionally, Gavin Jacobsen and Nico Spaziani each added one goal for the Bearcats. Meanwhile, Connor Winters stopped 13 shots and collected three ground balls in goal for Binghamton.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
- Binghamton enters the weekend on a three-game skid, dropping league contests to NJIT and UAlbany with a non-conference loss at Delaware sandwiched in. Binghamton defeated UMass Lowell on March 14 for its first America East win of the season, and picked up a non-conference win over Mercyhurst on Feb. 27.
- Andrew Girolamo is the top offensive threat for Binghamton, scoring 24 goals and handing out four assists in 10 games this season. The junior is one goal shy of 50 for his career in just 31 games. Girolamo has seven multi-goal games this season, including a career-high seven goals versus UMass Lowell on March 14. He also added a five-point day in the win over Mercyhurst with a hat trick and two assists. Girolamo ranks third in the league in goals scored.
- After Girolamo, Binghamton has four more players with 10 or more points this season, led by Will Feldmann with 13. Feldmann leads the team with nine assists, handing out three in the win over the River Hawks. Tyler Martini has totaled 12 points thus far, and also had a four-point day against UMass Lowell. Gavin Jacobsen is second on the team with nine goals, scoring in five straight games for the Bearcats. Finally, Drew Filanowski has 10 points for Binghamton and has three multi-goal games.
- Defensively, Luke LeSueur and Aidan McMinn have caused nine turnovers each, while Nolan Sharkey and Matthew Rincon have caused eight. LeSueur, a freshman, caused three turnovers in his second career game against St. Bonaventure. McMinn also has a pair of games with three caused turnovers. Connor Winters has started all 10 games in goal, recording 136 saves and allowing 104 goals. He has eight or more saves in every game, topping out at 17 twice. Winters is second in the conference in saves, and leads the America East in save percentage.
- Flynn Wilson has won 52.4 percent (88-168) of his face-offs this season, winning 10 or more five times. Wilson won 18-of-21 face-offs in the loss to NJIT.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- After Saturday's dominant road win at UMass Lowell, UMBC enters with back-to-back victories for the first time this season. The Retrievers dropped the first two games of the conference season to Vermont and UAlbany before knocking off the Bulldogs and River Hawks.
- Ryan Demato rides a hot stretch of seven-straight games with at least two goals. Scoring early and often, Demato has put home 21 goals in nine games this season, ranking sixth in the league in goals per game. The junior has a pair of four-goal efforts this season and is already 10 points clear of his total in 2025 in just nine games.
- Jake Kucinski and Connor Chick round out the top offensive group, both joining Demato in double figures for goals scored with 11 apiece. The two have identical stat lines with 11 goals and 10 assists on the season. Kucinski recorded his first hat trick as a Retriever on Saturday, adding an assist for good measure, while Chick added four points and has multiple points in seven of nine games.
- After three goals in the team's first seven games, Xander Maxwell has come on strong, recording back-to-back multi-goal efforts, giving him four for his career.
- Alex Steers, one of three Retrievers to earn an America East weekly honor this season, continues to excel at the face-off X. Steers has won at least 10 face-offs in six of nine games this season and leads the Retrievers with 41 ground balls. The senior has won 57.2 percent of his face-offs. Paulo Vazquez stepped into a bigger role on Saturday, winning 12-of-18 face-offs for UMBC.
- Five Retrievers have caused at least six turnovers so far this season. Casey Pung tops the list with 11 for UMBC, thanks to a monster performance against Loyola (Md.) with four caused turnovers. He added a caused turnover, and three ground balls on Saturday. Dante Marinello has caused eight turnovers, while Dylan Hendrix is third on the team, causing seven turnovers. Hendrix has 17 ground balls this season, while Marinello scored his third goal of the season against Bryant. Jameson Coffman has six caused turnovers, 13 ground balls, four goals, and an assist after a three-point day last Saturday.
- Connor McMahon has made 90 saves this season and holds a 10.16 GAA through nine games. McMahon has had at least seven saves in each game this year, setting a new season-high two Saturdays ago with 14, including a number of highlight reel saves.
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
