When the UMBC men’s lacrosse team started the season 1-4, it was easy to write off a team that—combined—included only eight juniors and seniors. But coach Don Zimmerman’s young team went on a 5-2 run to close out the regular season and force its way into the America East Conference Tournament. That run ended with a 14-11 first-round loss to Hartford on Wednesday. The Retrievers finished their year at 6-7, the team’s second consecutive losing season after a 4-9 record in 2010. However, Zimmerman said this year was different from the older group that seemed to underperform last season. UMBC …

The irony of the situation was not lost on UMBC softball coach Joe French Saturday afternoon. After a 5-10 start to the America East Conference schedule, his Retrievers came into the final weekend of their regular season needing a three-game sweep of Hartford (8-32, 2-13 AEC), the last-place team in the conference. French's team completed that sweep with a 4-0 win, behind another masterful performance by senior pitcher Stephanie Weigman, on Sunday. But now, UMBC needs Hartford to pick itself up, dust off, and beat Maine for the Retrievers to secure a playoff berth. "If we control what we do, …

Don Zimmerman knows his UMBC men’s lacrosse team isn’t going to enjoy too many laughers: those easy victories where a coach gets to empty his bench in the fourth quarter. Even on their current four-game winning streak, the Retrievers (6-5, 3-1 America East Conference) have outscored opponents by only eight goals. Two wins during the streak have been one-goal victories; another was a two-goal win. So Zimmerman was pleased Saturday when his team, which had successful clears on only 17 of 26 opportunities and committed 25 turnovers, managed to win despite not playing its best game. Enough big …

Exactly one month ago, the UMBC men's lacrosse team was left to lick its wounds after back-t0-back blowout losses to No. 3 Johns Hopkins and No. 4 Maryland. At 1-4, with starting goalkeeper Brian McCullough injured and their offense unable to create any kind of quick scoring opportunities, the Retrievers appeared set to spiral downward into the program's second consecutive losing season. But something happened on the way to the America East Conference's cellar: The Retrievers started winning. Though Albany (4-8, 0-3 AEC) may be nowhere near the caliber of team the Blue Jays and the Terrapins …

After an 8-6 win over America East Conference opponent Binghamton on Saturday, UMBC men's lacrosse coach Don Zimmerman was in high spirits. It was hard to blame the coach: After starting the season 2-5 and looking—in his own words—"silly" in a 16-5 loss to No. 3 Johns Hopkins and not faring much better in a 15-6 loss to No. 5 Maryland and 16-5 loss to No. 13 Stony Brook, Zimmerman had to be thrilled with the Retrievers' first back-to-back wins since April 2010. The team also beat Towson 10-9 Wednesday night. "I think that we're starting to play to our ability," Zimmerman said. "These young …

At this time in 2010, UMBC softball pitcher Stephanie Weigman had already allowed 10 runs in seven innings to Stony Brook in the Retrievers’ opening America East Conference series. What a difference one year makes. Weigman (10-7, 3.21 ERA), who said she has learned to better control her emotions when things go wrong for her on the pitching rubber, beat the Seawolves twice over the weekend. Sunday, she became UMBC’s all-time leader in wins with 58, breaking the record held by Lauren Nicholson. For Weigman, who is also the Retrievers’ all-time leader in strikeouts with more than 700 in the …

COLLEGE PARK, MD – In Canadian box lacrosse, the playing surface is smaller, the impact of speed diminished and the importance of working well in tight spaces increased. It’s a game that demands a skill set UMBC attackman Scott Jones grew up perfecting in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. After a three-goal performance Friday night versus No. 7 Maryland, Jones should be afforded more opportunities to show off those skills. The sophomore started this season as a midfielder for the Retrievers (1-4), a position that depends more on a player’s field speed and ability to dodge—talents Jones said …

In the second half of a March 5 game versus No. 10 North Carolina, Don Zimmerman’s UMBC lacrosse team rebounded from a rough first half and played the Tar Heels to a feel-good, 7-7 draw in the final two quarters. The Retrievers lost the game, 13-9, but the second half improvement softened Zimmerman. The coach said he was encouraged by his team's play after halftime, and went easy on them in the post-game locker room. But after a 16-5 loss to No. 17 Johns Hopkins Saturday in the Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium, Zimmerman thinks he went too easy on his team after the North Carolina game. …

Anyone who plays, coaches or writes about lacrosse, still a niche sport in most of the country, loves to say how the game is quickly spreading and is perhaps the fastest growing sport in the world. Saturday at CCBC Catonsville, that theory may have been given some merit. The Cardinals women’s lacrosse team hosted Nihon University of Japan for a clinic and scrimmage, a semi-annual event that Catonsville coach Tom Taylor says he looks forward to. “They’re really, really receptive,” Taylor said of the Japanese players. “They’re really an exceptionally nice group of people. They’re so …

Their names announced one by one, UMBC women’s basketball seniors Chelsea Barker, Michele Brokans and Meghan Colabella walked to half court, met their family and coach Phil Stern and graciously accepted the applause of those in attendance at RAC Arena on Senior Night. The event is the same across sports and institutions; seniors playing in their last regular season home game walk to half court, midfield or the 50 yard line, perhaps with a single flower in one hand, receive their recognition and wait for the brief ceremony to end so that the game may begin. Coaches and underclassmen alike say …

As debates rage across the sporting world about how to better protect athletes from traumatic head injuries, women’s lacrosse coaches at Catonsville colleges are unified of opinion: leave their game alone. Women’s lacrosse players at all levels do not wear helmets, with the exception of the goalkeeper, though players in the men’s game are required to. That’s fine with coaches at UMBC and CCBC Catonsville. “That’s not our game,” said Retrievers coach Kelly Berger, who was a midfielder at James Madison. “I’ve been playing this game quite a while and I just think it would change the game. It …

On a team plagued by a lack of consistency from half to half and game to game, the one constant for UMBC men’s basketball had been junior guard Chris De La Rosa. Performing like an American East Conference Player of the Year candidate, De La Rosa is averaging 16.3 points per game and 6.5 assists per game. He’s also the best in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio and has played more minutes than anyone in the league. “Chris is Mr. Steady,” Retrievers coach Randy Monroe said after another 20-point effort by the junior versus Vermont last week. But De La Rosa and his team imploded …

The UMBC men’s basketball team went on a big run to beat second-place Maine in Orono, and may have put themselves into position to make another run. The Retrievers (5-19, 4-7 America East Conference) beat the Black Bears (14-9, 18-3) 84-79 after being down 49-35 with over 19 minutes to play in the second half. UMBC went on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 53-51 lead. Guard Chris De La Rosa, who had 24 points and 13 assists, scored or assisted on 16 of the 18 points in that second-half run. UMBC faces first-place Vermont (19-5, 10-2) Wednesday at RAC Arena. The Retrievers seem …

After consecutive wins over Boston University and Hartford, it seemed possible the UMBC men’s basketball team could be poised to turn their season around in America East Conference play. Two straight losses – a 20-point loss to New Hampshire and a disheartening three-point loss to Albany at RAC Arena – rewrote that script quickly. The Retrievers lost to the Great Danes Wednesday despite holding a 12-point halftime lead, 39-27. The offense for UMBC was fairly consistent, but after holding Albany to 25.6 percent shooting in the first half, the Retrievers couldn’t slow the Danes’ attack in the …

The UMBC basketball teams had played only one overtime game between them this season – the men fought Coppin State to a draw in regulation before losing in late November – which made it newsworthy last week when the teams each earned double-overtime victories. On the same day. Over the same school. The women beat Hartford 67-60 in 50 minutes at RAC Arena on Thursday. More than 300 miles north and seven hours later, the Retriever men defeated the Hawks at Chase Family Arena, 74-70. The coincidental circumstances surrounding the games made them especially newsworthy, but the wins were notable …

The UMBC’s women’s basketball team was disappointed after it shot just over 31 percent in a three-point road loss to Maine a week ago. It was a game the surging Retrievers probably should have won against a Black Bear squad that’s gone 3-14 (1-4 America East Conference) this season. But in the last week, UMBC has bounced back from that defeat in a big way, blowing out Binghamton (10-7, 3-1) and Vermont (1-16, 1-3) at RAC Arena to improve to 3-1 in the conference and 9-8 overall. It’s the first time the Retrievers have been over .500 this season, and it’s becoming apparent that UMBC is capable…

The UMBC women’s basketball team was finally competitive rebounding the ball versus Maine Sunday. But the team was cold offensively, shooting just 31.5 percent from the floor, allowing the Black Bears to stay close and ultimately sink a buzzer-beating shot at the end of a 60-57 win. The Retrievers (7-8, 1-1 America East Conference), who have lost on the boards by nearly seven rebounds per game throughout the season, were outrebounded only 47-45 versus Maine. UMBC even scored 28 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds. Guard Michelle Kurowski led the team with 12 rebounds, followed by …

The women's basketball team has gone 5-2 in its last seven games after a 1-5 start, including a 60-57 win over Loyola last week. Now, the Retrievers (6-7) will have the opportunity to see how they stack up against America East Conference competition. They travel to play Stony Brook (3-9) Monday in their conference opener. UMBC's resurgence has been led by Michelle Kurowski, who is averaging 14.2 points per game and ranks second in the conference in that category. Kurowski, Erin Brown and Tope' Obajolu – all juniors – have accounted for 65.7 percent of the team's offense, a university release …

A 65-56 come-from-behind win over Navy last week should have helped prove to fans how resilient the UMBC women's basketball team is. But if they've been paying attention, they know the Retrievers have been resilient all season. UMBC started the season 1-5, as it struggled to shoot and rebound, averaging just over 52 points per game. But rather than hang their collective heads, the team got better. And fast. Rebounding remains a problem most nights, but in their past six games the Retrievers have gone 4-2 and are averaging more than 58 points per game. That average climbs to 64 points per game…

For one half versus Virginia, the UMBC women's basketball team's hot shooting put them in position to makes things interesting against their second-straight Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. But a big Cavalier run and shooting 36 percent in the second half led to the result being similar to last week's contest versus Maryland. The Retrievers (4-7) lost 61-45 to Virginia (7-4) after being dominated on the boards, 42-23. Unlike the game against the Terrapins UMBC was competitive at halftime, down only 25-21, after shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half. But the Cavaliers opened …