BALTIMORE – More than 400 student-athletes, faculty, staff and family members were in attendance on Monday, May 6 at the RAC Arena as UMBC honored its student-athletes for another successful year both on the playing surface and in the classroom. Junior Pete Caringi III (Perry Hall, Md./Calvert Hall) joined second-year honorees, sophomore Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) and junior Mohamed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College), as the Retrievers’ Most Outstanding Athletes for the 2012-13 academic year, an honor that was renamed the Dr. Charles R. Brown Outstanding Athlete Award to recognize the Athletic Director, who will retire in June, for his 24 years of dedication to the department and school.

Men’s Lacrosse four-year letterwinner Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, Brit. Columbia/Terry Fox) earned Outstanding Senior Male Athlete recognition, while track & field’s Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) and women’s lacrosse’s Jamie Fahey(Baldwin, Md./Loch Raven) shared the Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award.

Women’s Basketball’s Raven Harris (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne/American) and men’s soccer’s Liam Paddock(Worcestershire, England/Chase Technology College) received the prestigious Matt Skalsky Scholar-Athlete Award, given to the department’s top academic honorees.

Caringi III authored a breakthrough season for the men’s soccer program, and was the offensive force that propelled the team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, earning several post-season honors. He was cited as the America East Striker of the Year, the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year and he was selected to National College Soccer Coaches’ Association All-Northeast Region Second Team.

An America East First Team selection and the league’s Fans’ Choice Player of the Year, he scored 14 goals and recorded 32 points to place 13th and 15th respectively in the country. The local Calvert Hall product also tied a school single-game record by scoring four goals in a resounding victory over league foe Hartford.

Jackson pushed past her record-setting freshman campaign and continued to make history both inside and outside, as she garnered her second consecutive Athlete of the Year recognition. Already the school-record holder in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events indoors from last year, Jackson ran past both marks during the 2012-13 indoor track season, including a personal-best time of 7.34 in the 60-meter event to become just the fourth UMBC track athlete ever to advance to the NCAA Championships. In Fayetteville, Arkansas, she placed 13th and earned a spot on the All-America Second Team.

Outside, the sophomore has continued her bristling pace, winning the 100m and 200m dash events in record-breaking time at the America East Outdoor Championships. Her victory in the 100-meter race broke an eight-year old conference record, while her win the 200-meter snapped her own conference and school-record times. For her efforts, she was named the Most Outstanding Female Track Performer.

A year after breaking onto the scene at UMBC with three individual gold medals at the 2012 America East Championships,Hussein, also a back-to-back honoree of Most Outstanding Athlete recognition, pushed even further this season, leading the Retrievers to just their second-ever undefeated dual meet season. In Orono, Maine, he once again won three individual events and was named the Most Outstanding Male Swimmer for the second-straight year, as he helped guide the Retrievers back to the top of the conference with a meet-record 1,075 total points at the America East Championships in Maine.

Following the America East meet, the junior claimed Top Male Swimmer accolades at the ECAC Championships and became just the third Retriever in program history, and first male swimmer, to make the cut for the NCAA Championships. In Indianapolis, against a national field, he set personal-records in the 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle, and the 200-yard backstroke, breaking his own school record with each swim.

Jones has been the men’s lacrosse team’s offensive leader for the past three seasons. He has earned three all-conference honors, including first team recognition in 2012, when he finished eighth in the nation in goals scored per game. Earlier this season, he became the 30th player in school history to record 100 points and currently stands 20th with 117 career points. Jones has served as team captain of the Retrievers for the past two season and earned all-tournament honors at the 2013 America East Men’s Lacrosse Championships.

Deller has won the shot put all eight times at the America East Championships, earning a gold medal in the event indoors and outdoors, all four years of her career. In addition, she has won the weight throw at the indoor meet to be named the Most Outstanding Female Field Athlete each of the last two years. Last year, she added the discus championship to her career haul and this season at the conference championships at Binghamton, she repeated in the discus to bring her career haul to 12 America East titles.

Fahey received conference honors all four season with the Retrievers, including three straight selections to the America East All-Conference First Team. Additionally, she has earned national recognition on the IWLCA Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team, as well as garnering a spot on the womenslacrosse.com All-Rookie Squad. The four-year letterwinner eclipsed the century mark for draw controls with 115 and ground balls with 105 for her career this season, in addition to recording her first career point with an assist in a 15-12 victory against American.

Harris emerged as one of the elite point guards in the America East in her senior season, setting a new school record with 109 steals on the season, ranking fifth all-time in takeaways in a campaign for the America East, and ended the year ranked third in the country in steals per game. An America East All-Conference Second Team selection, and a member of the America East All-Defensive team, the senior guard tripled her scoring production from a year ago, averaging 12.4 points per game and adding 3.8 helpers. The America East Honor Roll member earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in media and communications studies in May 2012 and has posted a 4.0 GPA since starting her master’s program in early childhood education.

Paddock became just the second UMBC student-athlete ever to receive a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, which he is using to pursue a master’s degree in the management of aging studies. He earned his undergraduate degree with a 3.92 GPA, completing a double-major in psychology and sociology and was the 2012 ECAC Division I Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

A team captain at UMBC, Paddock was named 2012 America East Defender of the Year and was a repeat selection to the America East All-Conference First Team. The two-time America East Scholar Athlete in the sport of men’s soccer, he started all 72 games that he dressed for in his four-year tenure in Baltimore.

The Leon Upshur Memorial Award, establish in 1994 to honor a student volunteer that contributes to the mission of the athletic department in capacities other than participation, was given to fourth-year student trainer Mariah Cheaves.

Juniors Andrew Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) of track & field and Klara Pavelkova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Pripotocni) of women’s swimming & diving wrapped up the major award winners as the recipients of the Retriever Club Scholarship Award, which will be used for their senior seasons of competition.

Below is the list of UMBC’s most valuable athletes, most improved athletes and unsung heroes for each sport, chose by that’ team’s coaches, as well as the winners of the third annual Gritty Awards:

2012-13 UMBC Award Winners

Men’s Soccer
Most Improved Athlete: Jordan Becker (Pocomoke City, Md./Pocomoke)
Most Valuable Athlete: Pete Carinigi III (Perry Hall, Md./Calvert Hall)
Most Valuable Athlete: Phil Saunders (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall)

Women’s Soccer
Unsung Hero: Melissa Hummel (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East)
Most Improved Athlete: Stephanie Smith (Severna Park, Md./Archbishop Spalding)
Most Valuable Athlete: Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas)

Volleyball
Unsung Hero: Robbin Lee (Olney, Md./Sherwood)
Most Improved Athlete: Mallory McIntyre (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/St. Mary’s Academy)
Most Improved Athlete: Krystal Mlemchukwu (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech)

Men’s Cross Country
Unsung Hero: Tommy Eldridge (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River)
Most Improved Athlete: Jake Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley)
Most Valuable Athlete: Brandan McGee (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood)

Women’s Cross Country
Unsung Hero: Nicole Dawson (Jessup, Md./Hammond)
Most Improved Athlete: Julie Gessler (Ellicott City, Md./Institute of Notre Dame)
Most Valuable Athlete: Cody Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South Carroll)

Men’s Basketball
Unsung Hero: Malik Garner (Philadelphia, Pa./Chestnut Hill Academy)
Most Improved Athlete: Brian Neller (Red Bank, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy)
Most Valuable Athlete: Ryan Cook (Laurel, Md./St. Vincent Pallotti/Chestnut Hill College)

Women’s Basketball
Unsung Hero: Kristin Coles (Charles Town, W.Va./Notre Dame Academy/American)
Most Improved Athlete: Kim Browning (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover)
Most Valuable Athlete: Raven Harris (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne/American)

Men’s Swimming & Diving
Unsung Hero: Andrew Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford)
Unsung Hero: Pierre DeWaal (Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks Sport/Cleveland State)
Most Valuable Athlete: Mohammed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College)

Women’s Swimming & Diving
Most Improved Athlete: Corinna Darelius (Rye, N.Y./Rye)
Most Improved Athlete: Faye Hixenbaugh (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery)
Most Valuable Athlete: Jennifer Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy of Holy Cross)

Men’s Indoor Track & Field
Most Improved Athlete: Liam Stott (Carrboro, N.C./Chapel Hill)
Most Valuable Athlete: Dennison Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/FIU)
Most Valuable Athlete: Andrew Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley)

Women’s Indoor Track & Field
Most Improved Athlete: Mary Katherine Kulp (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal)
Most Valuable Athlete: Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)
Most Valuable Athlete: Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen)

Men’s Lacrosse
Unsung Hero: Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River
Unsung Hero: Ethan Murphy (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca East)
Unsung Hero: Jake Zimmerman (Towson, Md./Boys’ Latin)

Women’s Lacrosse
Unsung Hero: Kendall Mason (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor)
Most Improved Athlete: Lexi Bristow (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck)
Most Valuable Athlete: Jamie Fahey (Baldwin, Md./Loch Raven)

Men’s Tennis
Unsung Hero: Patrick Geoffrion-Amorim (Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada/American Heritage)
Most Improved Athlete: Daniel Gray (Bowie, Md./The Bullis School)
Most Valuable Athlete: Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md./National Connections Academy)

Women’s Tennis
Unsung Hero: Isabel Aldunate (Bowie, Md./Home School)
Most Improved Athlete: Heidi Danielsson (Jonkoping, Sweden/Sanda)
Most Valuable Athlete: Josefin Stange-Jonsson (Vasteras, Sweden/De La Gardiegymnasiet)

Men’s Outdoor Track & Field
Most Valuable Athlete: Dennison Long (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/FIU)
Most Valuable Athlete: Vincent Rentzsch (Oranienburg, Germany)
Most Valuable Athlete: Thor Serafenas (Olney, Md./Good Counsel/Clemson)

Women’s Outdoor Track & Field
Most Valuable Athlete: Kirsten Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet)
Most Valuable Athlete: Amanda Deller (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen)
Most Valuable Athlete: Mercedes Jackson (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)

Baseball
Unsung Hero: Robert Hopp (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville)
Unsung Hero: Luke Seppi (Annapolis, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt)
Most Improved Athlete: Jon Cohn (Scottsdale, Ariz./Notre Dame Prep)

Softball
Unsung Hero: Danielle O’Neill (Loathian, Md./Southern)
Most Valuable Athlete: Heather Brown (Pasadena, Md./Northeast)
Most Valuable Athlete: Taylor Hall (Cosby, Va./Cosby)

2012-13 Gritty Award Winners

Upset of the Year: Men’s Soccer victory over Old Dominion

Rookie of the Year: Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) – men’s lacrosse

Record-Breaking Performance: Mohammed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College) – men’s swimming & diving

Comeback Athlete of the Year: Amy Fay (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) – women’s swimming & diving

Play of the Year: Brian Neller (Red Bank, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) – men’s basketball

Breakthrough Athlete of the Year: Shannon Harkey (Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley/Florida) – women’s

Stony Brook, N.Y.—Top-seeded Albany used a 9-1 run in the second and third quarters to defeat UMBC, 19-10, in the America East Conference men’s lacrosse championship game.

UMBC, which entered the game 4-1 in its last five contests, finished the season at 7-8.

Senior attackmen Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) and junior face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha) were selected to the All-Tournament Team.

Jones led the Retrievers with four goals vs. Albany and amassed seven goals in the two games.

There were four ties and lead changes in the first half until Albany closed the stanza on a 5-0 run. UMBC trailed, 3-2, after one quarter and 4-2 just 34 seconds into the second, but went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead with 9:18 to play in the frame.

Freshman midfielder Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) started the surge with an extra-man goal at the 12:41 mark, and Jones tied the score, converting a feed from senior middie Nick Doub (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) at the 10:04 mark. Senior attackman Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) got inside and beat UA keeper Blaze Riordan from a tough angle to put UMBC back out in front at 5-4 with 9:18 to play in the half.

After a time out, Albany tied the game 42 seconds later, starting the 5-0 surge. Albany outshot UMBC, 31-15 in the first 30 minutes, and despite nine saves by DiRito, the Danes led by four at the break.

UMBC came out quickly in the third quarter, winning the opening face-off after a loose ball battled and cashed in when freshman Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) scored with just 39 seconds elapsed. But the Danes went on a 4-0 run before Retriever senior midfielder Dave Brown (Coopersburg, Pa./The Hill School) stopped the surge and cut the deficit to 13-7 with 4:25 remaining.

But the Retrievers could get no close in the final 19 minutes of the game and fell to 3-2 in America East title games.

In his final game along with 13 other seniors, Brown scored a goal and added two assists. Lewnes scored twice, while Doub added a pair of helpers.

Tournament Most Valuable Player, Albany sophomore attackman Lyle Thompson, led all scorers with three goals and six assists.

Albany outshot UMBC, 49-36, and DiRito finished the game with 10 saves. Albany freshman netminder Blaze Riordan made nine saves for his side.

The Danes converted on 4-of-6 extra-man opportunities, while UMBC was 1-of-2.

“I would like to thank our seniors for the great job they have done over the past four years, especially this year,” head coach Don Zimmerman said. “The guys are disappointed, but they should hold their heads up high. It’s a great group of guys, they work hard and they represent the school in a tremendous fashion.”

UMBC will play for its first America East Conference title in men’s lacrosse since 2009 when they face top-seeded Albany on Saturday, May 4 at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium. The Retrievers and Great Danes will face-off at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday in front of a national television audience on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app. Mark Dixon and Ryan Flanagan have the call of the fourth meeting between UMBC and Albany in the title game.

The Retrievers (7-7) advanced by virtue of a stunning comeback in the semifinal contest vs. No. 2-seeded Hartford. Trailing 13-9 with less than six minutes remaining, UMBC junior face-off specialist Phil Poe won the final six draws of the game, and senior attackman Joe Lustgarten scored three of the Retrievers’ six goals in a span of 5:12 to spearhead a rally which resulted in a 15-13 UMBC victory. Lustgarten, who led UMBC with four goals and two assists, scored the game-winning goal with 55 seconds remaining, while Poe won 11 of 12 fourth-quarter draws and 22 of 29 in the contest.

Twelfth-ranked Albany (12-4) faced a tough out in No. 4 and host Stony Brook, but came away with a 17-15 victory in the nightcap of Thursday’s thrilling action at LaValle Stadium. The Great Danes defeated UMBC, 16-10, on April 19.

LAST TIME WE MET: Matt Gregoire scored a career-best five points, but the Retrievers fell, 16-10, to tenth-ranked Albany at John Fallon Field on April 19.Gregoire scored back-to-back goals late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to bring the Retrievers to within 11-9 with 10:48 remaining. But the high-powered Great Danes reeled off three straight goals in a span of 2:12 to take its biggest lead of the game at 14-9 with 6:36 to play. Pat Young briefly halted the surge and cut the deficit to four goals with 5:10 to play, but the Retrievers could get no closer.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT: In the conference semifinals, junior attackman Ty Thompson scored three goals down the stretch as the Great Danes scored five of the game’s final six goals to seal the 17-15 victory over Stony Brook. Ty Thompson finished with four goals and an assist while his teammate and cousin Lyle, the America East Player of the Year, had three goals and three assists to up his season-point total to 99.

ALL-TIME SERIES: UMBC leads the all-time series, 10-6, but Albany has won the last two contests. The two teams will meet for the seventh time in ten league seasons in the championships. The Great Danes have won four of the previous six meetings, although the Retrievers have won two of the three title game match-ups (2006, 2008).

Stony Brook, N.Y.- UMBC freshman midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School (Va.)) has been named America East Conference Men’s Lacrosse Rookie-of-the-Year, in voting done by the league’s six head coaches.

Moreover, Young was the lone freshman to be named to the America East Conference First Team.  He was joined on the first team by Retriever junior face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha).

Senior attackman Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) earned his third league citation as he was tabbed to the America East Second Team.

Freshman attackman/midfielder Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) joined Young on the league’s All-Rookie Team.

Senior defender Ethan Murphy (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca East) and senior midfielder Neill Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) each earned their second selections to the conference’s All-Academic Team.

Young, a three-time America East Rookie-of-the-Week, currently leads UMBC with 34 points. His 28 goals is tied for the third-most ever by a UMBC Division I player. Young provided three game-winning goals on the season, including scores in the final three minutes of one-goal victories over league foes Stony Brook and Binghamton.

Young becomes just the second Retriever to earn top honors for a league rookie. GoalkeeperJeremy Blevins was the other, earning the citation in 2006. However, Young becomes the first UMBC player to earn First Team All-Conference honors in his freshman campaign.

Poe earns his second consecutive First Team citation. He leads the conference in face-off percentage at 58.4 and is ranked 11^th in the nation in that category. Poe has already eclipsed last year’s total of face-off wins with 181 and now possesses the second and third most wins in a single season in school history. He is also nine ground balls shy of becoming the 12^thplayer in school history to amass 200.

Earlier this season, Jones became the 30^th player in school history to amass 100 career points and is currently tied with former teammate Rob Grimm for 25^th place on the UMBC all-time list with 109 points (89-20-109). The team captain has netted 27 goals in 2013, including a career-high six scores in an early April victory over Vermont.

Nate Lewnes earned AEC Rookie of the Week honors in late March, after a season-best six-point effort (2g, 4a) in a victory over High Point. He has scored 12 goals and added 10 assists in his initial collegiate season.

Older brother Neill earned All-Academic honors back in 2011, but missed most of the 2012 campaign after tearing his ACL in the conference opener vs. Hartford.  He has returned in 2013 to play a key role as a defensive midfielder for the Retrievers. A team captain, Lewnes is maintaining a 3.35 grade-point average in financial economics.

Murphy is a repeat selection to the team after earning his first honor in 2012. The political science major has seen action at both close defense and long-stick midfield in 2013 and is second on the squad in ground balls (48) and caused turnovers (16). Also a team captain, Murphy possesses a grade-point average of 3.78.

Seventy-two Retrievers have earned America East honors in UMBC’s ten league campaigns.

The third-seeded Retrievers (6-7, 3-2 America East) face No. 2 Hartford (7-6, 3-2) in the first America East semifinal match-up on Thursday, May 2. The opening face-off is set for 4:30 p.m. at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium.

CAMBRIDGE- UMBC freshman midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) has been tabbed America East Rookie of the Week for games ending April 27, 2013.

It is the second honor in a three-week span for the Retriever first-year player.

Young scored four second half goals, including the game-winner with 1:18 remaining as UMBC rallied to defeat Binghamton, 10-9 and secure a berth in the America East Tournament on Saturday. He now has a team-best 28 goals on the season, which is the tied for the third-most for a UMBC freshman in its Division I history.

Young has three game-winning goals on the campaign, including two in the final three minutes of one-goal victories vs. Stony Brook and Binghamton. He is the leading freshman scorer in conference games in America East, with 3.60 points per game- good for seventh on the complete list.

UMBC is preparing for its tenth consecutive America East Tournament appearance and will face Hartford in the first semifinal contest on Thursday, May 2. The 4:30 p.m. start will take place at Stony Brook University’s LaValle Stadium.

For all the latest information on the America East Men’s Lacrosse Championship, including to purchase tickets, visit Championship Central at www.americaeast.com.

BALTIMORE- UMBC freshman midfielder Pat Young scored his fourth goal with 1:18 remaining and the host Retrievers outlasted Binghamton, 10-9, to clinch a berth in the America East Tournament for the tenth consecutive year.

UMBC (6-7, 3-2 America East) has participated in the four-team championship in all ten of its league campaigns. The Bearcats were eliminated from tournament play and finish the season at 5-9, 1-4.

The 2013 America East Championship will open at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y., with the semifinal contests taking place on Thursday, May 2 and the title game occurring on May 4.

Young, who led the Retrievers with four scores, scored his third game-winning goal of the season. He also recorded the game-winner with less than three minutes remaining in a 13-12 win at Stony Brook on April 13.

“It was a typical America East game-for our conference to have five teams still in the hunt on the last week of the regular season is pretty special,“ said head coach Don Zimmerman. “It’s Senior Day, it’s emotional. It’s always a little bit of a struggle on Senior Day, but I am very proud of the team, the way they hung in there, came back from several deficits and came back in the end.”

The game was tied on eight occasions, as the Retrievers trailed by one goal six times and 8-6 late in the third quarter. The Bearcats took the lone two-goal advantage of the game on a goal by attackman Matt Springer with 18 seconds to play in the third stanza. But UMBC snatched momentum back as senior attackman/midfielder Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) netted a desperation shot with less than one second remaining in the stanza.

Young knotted the game at 8-all 2:42 into the final quarter, beating BU netminder Max Schefler low from 11 yards away. UMBC would then take its first lead of the game, as senior middie Dave Brown (Coopersburg, Pa./The Hill School) found Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) inside and the senior attackman converted from close range with 8:55 remaining.

Binghamton’s Emmett O’Hara brought his side back to even, tallying with 3:29 remaining and the Bearcats won the ensuing draw. But BU hit the side-netting on a shot with 1:52 to play and the Retrievers cleared and called a time-out. Junior midfielder Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys’ Latin) drove down the right alley and dumped a pass back to Young, who stepped into a 10-yard shot and it ticked the stick of Schefler before hitting the back of the net.

UMBC won the next face-off and never allowed the Bearcats to possess the ball in the final minute of play.

The Retrievers, now 39-13 in ten years of America East Conference play, have never lost back-to-back conference contests. UMBC improved to 22-4 at UMBC Stadium vs. AEC foes during the regular year and to 8-0 vs. Binghamton on the friendly turf in Baltimore.

Young and Springer each scored four times for their respective teams. Lustgarten added two goals and an assist for UMBC, while Gregoire recorded a pair of goals and now has 15 in league play in 2013.

Both goalkeepers excelled in the contest. UMBC sophomore Wes DiRito (Odenton, Md./DeMatha) turned away 12 Binghamton shots, while Schefler also recorded 12 saves. The Retrievers outshot the Bearcats, 35-27.

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team is one of five America East Conference squads battling for a playoff berth as the regular season comes to a conclusion on Saturday, April 27. Tenth-ranked Albany (10-3, 4-0) has sewn up the top seed, but everything else is up for grabs as the Retrievers (5-7, 2-2) host Binghamton (5-8, 1-3) at 3:40 p.m. UMBC’s 14 seniors will be honored in pregame ceremonies and coverage is available on Q1370 and via www.umbcretrievers.tv. 

With a win, the Retrievers would clinch a spot in the four-team playoff for the tenth time in ten league seasons. UMBC could be seeded No. 2, 3 or 4. The combination of a Retriever loss and Stony Brook victory vs. Albany would eliminate UMBC from the postseason. Hartford plays at Vermont in the other league contest.

The Retrievers will honor their 14 seniors in ceremonies prior to today’s contest. They are Dave Brown, Adam Cohen, Nick Doub, Matt Gregoire, Scott Hopmann, Joe Impallaria, Scott Jones, Neill Lewnes, Joe Lustgarten, Sam McKelvey, Ethan Murphy, Tony Spada, Lucas Wood, and Jake Zimmerman.

Gregoire scored a career-best five points, but the Retrievers fell, 16-10, to tenth-ranked Albany at John Fallon Field on April 19. Gregoire tallied four goals and added an assist, recording the third four-goal game of his career and giving him 10 goals in three games vs. Albany. He also leads UMBC and is tied for fourth in the conference with 15 points in four league contests.

Jones leads the club in scoring with 27 goals and 32 total points. Jones became the 30th Retriever to hit the 100-point plateau and now has 108 points (88-20-108) total points for his career. 

UMBC is 4-1 at home this year and 21-4 at home in 10 years of America East Conference competition.

Binghamton (5-8, 1-3 AE) came up just short on April 20, dropping an 8-7 America East conference game to visiting Vermont (4-9, 1-3 AE) at the Bearcats Sports Complex. The Catamounts used a 4-2 first quarter and never trailed as they secured their first conference win of the season. Bearcat junior Brandon Planck netted three goals for the Bearcats who fell to 1-3 in conference play.  Planck netted his fifth career hat trick in the loss. JR M Michael Antinozzi scored two goals and added an assist, increasing his career point tally to 89.  JR A Matt Springer he tied the single season goals record of 32 set just last season by teammate Michael Antinozzi.

Binghamton has had six games decided by two goals or less and are 3-3 in those six contests. They are 2-4 on the road this season.  The Bearcats can earn a spot in the playoffs with a win today and a Hartford win over Vermont.

BALTIMORE- UMBC head men’s basketball coach Aki Thomas is pleased to announce that four additional prospective student-athletes have signed National Letters-of-Intent with the Retrievers’ program for the fall of 2013.

Coach Thomas and his staff have added guards Rodney Elliott, Jr. and Bryan Harris and posts Devarick Houston and David Kadiri to the roster. They will join fall 2012 signees Will Darley and Charles Taylor, Jr. and walk-on Ben Grace to give the Retrievers seven new faces for the 2013-14 season.

“It is a very large group,” Thomas said. “We tried to fill every position and were successful in doing that. I think they should mesh well with the guys we have returning.”

Rodney Elliott, Jr. is a 6’2”, 175-lb. point guard who competed on the varsity squad for four years at John Carroll High School and resides in Bel Air, Md. He led the No. 7 Patriots with 16.6 points per game and  also averaged 4.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.3 steals in his senior season.

Ellliott, Jr. closed out his high school career with 1,116 points, 287 assists and 171 steals and earned First Team All-Metro honors from The Baltimore Sun.  His father, Rodney Elliott, Sr., earned four letters at the University of Maryland and competed for Gary Williams’ Terrapins from 1994-98.

Harris, who stands at 6’2” and weighs in at 180 lbs., starred for Southern (Anne Arundel) High School  and graduated in 2011. The Oxon Hill, Md. native earned First Team All-MIAA honors in his junior and senior campaigns. He was a two-time team captain and Most Valuable Player and averaged a career-best 20 points per game and six assists per game in his senior campaign.

Harris attended and competed at Massanutten Military Academy in 2011-12 and averaged 24.0 points per game. He earned a scholarship at Wofford University in the fall of 2012, but left after the fall semester due to health concerns and to be closer to home.

Junior college transfer Devarick Houston comes to UMBC after two campaigns at Chattahoochee Technical College in Marietta, Ga. A native of Jonesboro, Ga., the 6’7”, 190-lb. power forward averaged 12.8 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per contest this past season. He also blocked 2.9 shots per outing and was ranked ninth in the nation in that category.  His squad ended the 2012-13 campaign at No. 14 in the nation with a record of 26-4.

Houston prepped at Mays High School and averaged 14.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals a game as a senior. Houston was a key player for a top-notch Mays program and helped the Raiders reach the Class AAAA championship game in 2010.

Kadiri attended Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C. in his senior prep campaign. The 6’8”, 190-lb. Beltsville, Md. native’s squad finished 25-6 and won both the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association and D.C. State Athletic Association titles in 2013.

Kadiri averaged 13.7 points per game this winter and garnered 19 or more rebounds in three occasions. He earned DCIAA First Team honors and was tabbed to the Third Team All-Metro squad by The Washington Post.

Kadiri will become the first future Retriever to compete in the prestigious Capital Classic All-Star game. The 40th annual game is set for this Sunday, April 28 at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va.

Darley competed a post-graduate season at Fishburne (Va.) Military Academy, while Taylor did the same at Mount Zion in Baltimore.

The sharp-shooting Grace is also a Baltimore native and the 5’10” guard competed at The Gilman School.

“I feel it is very important to have players from this area attend UMBC,” Thomas said. “Local recruiting is something that I wanted to hone in on as soon as I took over.  There are a lot of really good basketball players in the area.”

We recruited some guys that go non-stop, love the game of basketball and are students of the game of basketball. We are happy with the outcome- we got all of our first choices. I am looking forward to working with them and getting them acclimated and moving forward.”

NEW RETRIEVERS FOR 2013-14

Name                            Pos.     Ht.      Wt.   Yr.   Hometown/HS/Previous School

Will Darley                    G         6-8      200    Fr.   Timonium,Md./Dulaney/Fishburne Acad.

Rodney Elliott, Jr.         G          6-2      175     Fr.    Bel Air, Md./John Carroll

Ben Grace*                   G         5-10    175     Fr.    Baltimore, Md./The Gilman School

Bryan Harris                  G         6-2     180     Fr.    Oxon Hill, Md./Southern/Massanutten Acad.

Devarick Houston          F          6-7      190     Jr.      Jonesboro, Ga./Mays/Chatttahoochee Tech

David Kadiri                  F/C       6-8      190     Fr.     Beltsville, Md./Coolidge

Charles Taylor, Jr.         G          6-4      185     Fr.     Haymarket, Va./Springbrook/Mount Zion

Albany, N.Y.—UMBC senior attackman Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) scored a career-best five points, but the Retrievers fell, 16-10, to tenth-ranked Albany at John Fallon Field.

Gregoire scored back-to-back goals late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to bring the Retrievers to within 11-9 with 10:48 remaining. But the high-powered Great Danes reeled off three straight goals in  a span of 2:12 to take its biggest lead of the game at 14-9 with 6:36 to play.

UMBC freshman midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) briefly halted the surge and cut the deficit to four goals with 5:10 to play, but the Retrievers could get no closer.

Albany won its sixth consecutive game, improved to 10-3 overall, 4-0 in America East play and clinched the top seed in the America East Tournament. UMBC saw its two-game winning streak halted and slipped to 5-7, 2-2.

Gregoire tallied four goals and added an assist, recording the third four-goal game of his career and giving him 10 goals in three games vs. Albany. Young was UMBC’s only other multiple-goal scorer with a pair of tallies.

Albany junior Ty Thompson riddled UMBC with eight goals, while sophomore Lyle Thompson scored four times and added seven assists.

The hosts got out to a 4-1 lead in the late stages of the first quarter, but UMBC responded with a 4-1 run and tied the game at 5-5 on senior Scott Jones” (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) lone tally of the game with 5:58 to play in the second stanza.

The Great Danes surged again with a quick three-goal flurry, but goals by Young and Gregoire brought UMBC to within 8-7 at the half. Gregoire’s final goal of the half occurred just before time expired.

Albany outshot UMBC, 46-36, including 11-4 in the fourth quarter. UMBC sophomore goalkeeper Wes DiRito (Odenton, Md./DeMatha) kept UMBC in the game in the early stages and made all nine of his saves in the first three quarters. Albany freshman keeper Blaze Riorden had 13 stops for his side. ‘

UMBC completes the regular season on Saturday, April 27 when they host the Binghamton Bearcats. The Retrievers will honor their 14 seniors prior to the 3:30 opening draw at UMBC Stadium.

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team faces its fourth ranked team of the 2013 season when the Retrievers (5-6, 2-1 America East) meet the 10th-ranked Albany Great Danes (9-3, 3-0) at John Fallon Field in Albany, N.Y. on Friday, April 19. The opening face-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

Freshman midfielder Pat Young broke a 12-all tie by scoring with 2:39 remaining and visiting UMBC won a critical America East Conference contest, 13-12, at defending champion Stony Brook at LaValle Stadium on Saturday. Young was amongst four Retrievers who tallied a pair of goals. UMBC won on the road and won back-to-back games for the first time in 2013.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT: Albany (9-3, 3-0) has won five consecutive games and has risen to No. 10 in the nation in this week’s USILA poll. The Great Danes lead the nation in scoring at 15.81 goals per game, assists per game (9.33) and shooting percentage (37.3).Attackmen Lyle Thompson (34 goals, 44 assists) and Ty Thompson are ranked Nos. 6-8 respectively in goals scored per game. and Lyle is second in the nation in assists. Linemate Miles Thompson has only played eight games , but has also hit the 30-goal plateau. Albany has victories over Syracuse (No. 13 at time), U. Mass (No. 9) and Johns Hopkins in 2013. They are averaging 22.0 goals per game in their 3-0 America East start.

ALL-TIME SERIES: UMBC leads the all-time series, 10-5, but only five of the previous 15 contests have been played at Albany. The two teams have met six times in nine previous league seasons at the championships and five of those contests have taken place in Baltimore. The Retrievers are 3-2 in Albany, including a 13-9 victory in the last meeting in 2011.

THE LAST TIMES WE MET: The two teams met twice in a span of three weeks in 2012. UMBC rallied from a five-goal deficit with less than six minutes to play and a Scott Jones OT goal gave the hosts a 17-16 victory on April 21. But the Great Danes avenged that defeat with a 19-8 victory over UMBC in the America East semifinals on May 2.

UP NEXT: UMBC completes the regular season on Sat., April 27 when they host the Binghamton Bearcats. The Retrievers’ 14 seniors will be honored in pregame ceremonies.