BALTIMORE - Coming off its first America East win of the season, UMBC men's lacrosse heads to UMass Lowell for its fourth conference game of the America East season. The Retrievers sit at 2-6 and 1-2 in conference play. UMass Lowell is 2-6 and 0-2 in the league.
Saturday's meeting will be the 11th all-time between UMBC and UMass Lowell. UMBC holds an 8-2 edge, winning five straight. The series dates back to 2015, with UMBC winning the first three meetings before dropping the 2018 and 2019 contests. The Retrievers have won each of the five matchup since, including back-to-back wins by double digits. Ryan Demato and Connor Chick each scored three goals and handed out an assist in last season's 14-4 victory. Connor McMahon made 12 saves in the win.
LAST TIME OUT
- Junior attackman Ryan Demato scored three goals, and redshirt senior goalie Connor McMahon matched his career high with 14 saves to lead the UMBC men's lacrosse team to a 12-11 America East Conference win against the Bryant Bulldogs on Saturday at chilly UMBC Stadium. Demato, who added an assist, has scored at least three goals in three straight games and four times this season. McMahon (three ground balls) has made double-digit saves in five games. Senior Alex Steers went 15 for 25 on face-offs and scooped a team-high six ground balls.
- Six different River Hawks scored at least one goal, as the UMass Lowell men's lacrosse team (2-6, 0-2 AE) dropped a hard-fought battle to the UAlbany Great Danes (5-4, 3-0 AE), 13-7, in the team's first home conference contest of the season. Leading the way for the River Hawks was sophomore Danny Burke (Eden Prairie, Minn.), who finished with two goals and an assist for three points.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
- UMass Lowell welcomes UMBC on Saturday, entering with a 2-6 record, going 0-2 in league play to this point. The River Hawks won back-to-back games over Merychurst and Wagner in February, but have lost five straight. In America East play, UMass Lowell has dropped contests to Binghamton (16-9) and UAlbany (13-7).
- Alex Lafreniere and Danny Burke lead the River Hawk offense with 16 and 14 goals respectively. The pair are tied for the team lead with 21 points. Lafreniere, a sophomore who scored 12 goals in his freshman campaign, has four multi-goal games this season, including a four-goal effort versus Mercyhurst. The Massachusetts native recorded his first America East hat trick against Binghamton on March 14. Burke, a fellow sophomore, also has four multi-goal games this season. Burke put home five goals on six shots versus UMass on March 3. Burke has four goals and two assists in two AE games this season.
- After winning 53.4 percent of his face-offs as a sophomore, Justin Alexander has been dominant this season, winning 66.5 percent of his face-off tries. Alexander is second in the league with the 66.5 percentage and first in the league with 117 wins. Alexander has also recorded 73 ground balls, leaving a gap of 59 between him and Jack Jimenez with 14.
- Jimenez (6) and Jackson Schlicker (9) are the only two River Hawks with more than five caused turnovers this season. Schlicker caused five turnovers versus Wagner, and scored one of his two goals this season. Ha added a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls against UAlbany this past weekend. Jimenez had three caused turnovers and four ground balls vs. Queens on March 10.
- Three different goalies have started a game this season for UMass Lowell, AJ True (5), Carter O'Brien (2), and Scott Kosakowski (1). True has made 42 saves and played 30 minutes against UAlbany on Saturday. Kosakowski has made 29 saves, and also played 30 minutes on Saturday, stopping four of nine shots on goal.
SCOUTING THE DAWGS
- UMBC picked up a crucial America East victory on Saturday, holding on to defeat Bryant 12-11 in a thriller at UMBC Stadium. The Retrievers dropped the first two games of the conference season to Vermont and UAlbany before knocking off the Bulldogs.
- Ryan Demato continues a torrid stretch for the UMBC offense. The junior attackman has scored multiple goals in six straight games, recording four games of three or more goals during the stretch. In Demato's last three games, the New Jersey native has scored 10 goals and handed out three assists. Demato is currently tied for fifth in the America East with 19 goals this season. He ranks fifth in points per game (3.00) and sixth in the league in points with 24.
- Jake Kucinski and Connor Chick round out the top offensive group, sitting with 17 points each. Kucinski has a point in all but one game and scored his first America East goal of the season on Saturday. Chick has a point in every game this season and has scored three goals and added two assists in America East play.
- Alex Steers, one of two 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 eight games this season and leads the Retrievers with 40 ground balls. The senior has won 57.6 percent of his face-offs after taking 15-25 on Saturday.
- Five Retrievers have caused at least five turnovers so far this season. Casey Pung tops the list with 10 for UMBC, thanks to a monster performance against Loyola (Md.) with four caused turnovers. He added a pair of caused turnovers, five ground balls, and an assist on Saturday. Marinello and Dylan Hendrix have each caused 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 on Saturday.
- Connor McMahon has made 79 saves this season and holds a 10.88 GAA through eight games. McMahon has had at least seven saves in each game this year, setting a new season-high on Saturday 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
