BALTIMORE - After closing out the America East season with a fourth straight victory on Saturday, the UMBC men's lacrosse team will close out the 2026 regular season with a neutral-site contest versus Bucknell on Friday afternoon at Messiah University. 

Friday features the sixth all-time meeting between UMBC and Bucknell and the first since 2000. The series opened in 1996 with the Bison taking a 13-8 victory. UMBC won three straight meetings in 1997, 1998, and 1999, before dropping the most recent matchup in 2000. 

LAST TIME OUT

• Junior attackman Ryan Demato scored a career-high five goals and added an assist to lead the UMBC men's lacrosse team to a 16-11 win over NJIT on Saturday at UMBC Stadium. The Retrievers (5-6, 4-2 AE) secured a spot in the America East Tournament with the victory. Senior attackman Connor Chick (three goals, assist) posted his third hat trick of the season and second straight. Freshman midfielder Than Souza found the net twice for his first collegiate goals, and junior Jake Kucinski also scored twice. Sophomore Nathan Ward and senior Nick Gutierrez each tallied a career-high three assists. Senior Alex Steers stood out at the faceoff X, winning a season-best 18-of-23 draws with a career-high 11 ground balls and his first career goal.

• Owen Kovacs celebrated his Senior Day with a career high seven points on five goals and two assists, leading the Bucknell men's lacrosse team to a 15-13 win over Holy Cross at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison improved to 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross fell to 6-7, 2-5. The Bison moved closer to a Patriot League Tournament berth but have not officially clinched yet. 

SCOUTING THE BISON

• Bucknell enters tomorrow's contest 8-5 on the season and 4-4 in Patriot League play. The Bison snapped a two-game skid with the two-goal victory over Holy Cross after falling to Boston University in overtime after a six-goal defeat at the hands of Army. Seven of Bucknell's 13 games this season have been decided by three or fewer goals. 
• Five Bison this season have recorded 29 or more points, led by 52 points from Michael Meyer. Meyer leads the team in both offensive categories, scoring 34 goals and handing out 18 assists. Meyer is nine goals shy of 100 for his career and has increased his goal total in every season of his career (13 -> 18 -> 26 -> 34). 
• After his monster game on Saturday, Kovacs is second on the team with 37 points, scoring 29 goals and adding eight assists. The New York native has nine goals in his last two games and has scored in nine consecutive outings.
• Sean Berrigan (19 g, 14 a), Luke Brunner (19 g, 11 a), and Peter Grandolfo (20 g, 9 a) are next in line on the offensive side for Bucknell. Berrigan has seven goals and three assists in the last three games, Brunner has six multi-goal games this season. Grandolfo scored his 50th career goal against Army. 
• John Young leads Bucknell with 16 caused turnovers this season, adding 33 ground balls and an assist to the cause. Young caused four turnovers in a win over Lafayette last month. 
• Jaz Zanelli and Luke Renaud have split time in goal this season with Zanelli making nine starts and playing all 60 minutes in Saturday's win over Holy Cross. Zanelli is 6-3 with a 10.85 GAA and 69 saves, while Renaud has started four games, is 2-2, and has made 41 saves with a 12.49 GAA. 

SCOUTING THE DAWGS

• UMBC won its fourth straight America East contest, finishing the league regular season 4-2 and clinching a spot in next week's America East playoffs. UAlbany will host the semifinals and finals next Thursday and Saturday, but the results of this weekend will decide UMBC's seed. UMBC clinches the #2 seed with a Vermont loss on Saturday. The Retrievers would be the three seed with a Vermont win and a Bryant loss. Finally, UMBC would be seeded fourth with wins from both Vermont and Bryant. 
• Demato scored six points for the second consecutive weekend, scoring a career-high five goals and tossing in an assist in the win over NJIT on Saturday. With one more goal, Demato will become the 27th Retriever to score 30 or more goals in a single season. He has scored multiple goals in nine straight games and currently leads the America East in goals per game at 2.64. Demato won his first-ever America East Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday. 
• Connor Chick and Jake Kucinski give the Retrievers three players with 25 or more points this season. Chick is second on the team with 17 goals and leads the way with 13 assists. Kucinski is third on the team with 15 goals and second with 11 assists. Chick has 41 goals and 17 assists in 28 games as a Retriever after totaling eight goals and five assists in his last three outings. Kucinski has also turned it up as of late, scoring seven goals in his last three games. 
• Joining Demato as America East weekly award winners were Dylan Sharpe and Alex Steers after monster performances. Sharpe took over the team lead with 13 caused turnovers after a five CT showing on Saturday, adding four ground balls to give him 22 this season. Steers won a season-best 18 face-offs on Saturday, giving him 122 wins at the X this season. He also added his first career goal in the win. Steers is a two-time weekly award winner this season. 
• Sophomore captain Jameson Coffman continues to do it all for UMBC, scoring seven goals, handing out three assists, causing six turnovers, and picking up 14 ground balls. 
• Connor McMahon has made 108 saves this season and holds a 10.04 GAA through 11 games. McMahon has had at least seven saves in each game this year, setting a new season-high last month against Bryant with 14, including a number of highlight reel saves.

2026 AMERICA EAST STAT RANKINGS
TEAM

• 1st in Goals Allowed - 110
• 1st in Goals Allowed Average - 10.0
• 1st in Turnovers - 163
• 2nd in Penalty Killing Percentage - 65.7%

INDIVIDUAL

• Demato - 1st in Goals Per Game - 2.64
• Demato - 3rd in Goals - 29
• Demato - 4th in Points - 38
• Demato - 4th in Points Per Game - 3.45
• Connor McMahon - 2nd in GAA - 10.04
• Alex Steers - 3rd in Face-Offs Won - 122
• Steers - 4th in Face-Off Win Percentage - .584
• Steers - 4th in Ground Balls - 54

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