In Conference Tournament, UMBC Lacrosse Gets Second Chance

In real life, it’s not often one gets a second chance. But in sports, second chances are frequently there for the taking.

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team, after losing 10-6 to Hartford in the final game of the regular season, is getting a second chance.

The Retrievers travel to Hartford, CT, tonight to face-off against the Hawks for the second time in four days. This time, it’s in the first round of the America East Conference Tournament.

“It’s a really unique opportunity,” said senior midfielder and face-off specialist J.D. Harkey. “Everyone’s in the same boat (win or go home), it’s a new page mentality.”

And if you believe UMBC (6-6, 3-2 America East Conference), playing Hartford again this close to their last meeting is an advantage.

“Playing a team you just played four days ago, it helps,” Retrievers coach Don Zimmerman said. “Their personnel (are) fresh in our minds.”

“It’s one thing to watch film,” said Harkey, a team captain. “It’s another to get that feel for them on the field…it really helps when you have to see them again.

“We have another shot at them.”

The Hawks are enjoying a resurgent season, while UMBC is trying to claw its way back to the upper-echelon of the conference and the NCAA.

Hartford is making its first appearance in the conference tournament since 2003, while the Retrievers are trying to rebound from a 2009 season in which they began the year ranked in the NCAA top 20, only to finish 4-9 and miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.

If UMBC is to make the most of its second opportunity against the Hawks (9-6, 3-2) and increase its chances of returning to the NCAA Tournament, it will have to play better offensively.

The Retrievers outshot Hartford 49-29 in the teams’ first meeting, but managed only six goals. The teams were tied 4-4 at halftime, but a 4-0 Hawk run in the third quarter doomed UMBC.

The Retrievers allowed double-digit goals for the first time since an April 1 loss to Stony Brook, but Zimmerman said the defense is in fine shape; improving on offense is the priority.

“We need to work on our shooting,” Zimmerman said. “We need to be more effective on offense.”

UMBC attackman Scott Jones, who has been a dominant force playing in the crease since moving from midfield before a game versus Maryland in March, scored two goals in the first half, but was shut out in the second half. Jones took six shots in the game, half of which were on goal. Only three of attackman Rob Grimm’s nine shots were on goal.

Jones and Grimm lead the team in scoring with 30 points each.

“We felt like we made some uncharacteristic mental mistakes,” Harkey said. “I think they (Hartford) threw some pressure at us. We could have done a better job overall. I think we were getting the looks we wanted (offensively), just not finishing.

Harkey said it’s not that the Hawks surprised the Retrievers.

“We were prepared for things,” he said. “We just didn’t take advantage of our preparation.”

Harkey said UMBC needs to “run our offense,” and not worry about what Hartford throws at them.

What the Hawks bring to the field is the No. 2 offense in the conference (10.13 goals per game) and the No. 2 defense (8.5 goals per game).

The Retrievers, meanwhile, may have to run their offense without senior midfielder Jamie Kimbles, who sat out Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury. Kimbles, who had stabilized the UMBC midfield after missing time early in the season, is questionable for Wednesday’s first round tournament game.

Zimmerman said Kimbles’ absence “hurt us a lot” in the first meeting with the Hawks.

The Retrievers are well aware of Hartford’s ability after Saturday’s loss, but Zimmerman said the loss could serve as an advantage for his team. After going on a four game winning streak, the coach agreed that losing a game before being in a must-win playoff situation could be helpful to his young team. Twenty-seven of 35 players on the roster are freshmen or sophomores.

“I think there’s some credibility to that (losing before the playoffs),” Zimmerman said. “Do I think we played our best (on Saturday)? Absolutely not. Good teams sometimes need a little setback.”

And despite the loss, Harkey said the Retrievers are a confident bunch. After starting the season 1-4, UMBC finished at .500 after a strong April.

“We grew a tremendous amount as a team the last couple of months,” Harkey said. “We’ve got to maintain that attitude we had when we were starting to turn it around.”