When UMBC plays Delaware Saturday at Neptune Beach, Fla., it will be a much different team than the one which lost to the Blue Hens in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2007.
UMBC senior midfielder Terry Kimener is well aware of this as he will be called upon to rally a Retrievers offense that lost its top three scorers from last year: attackmen Drew Westervelt and Andy Gallagher and Cayle Ratcliffe. Westervelt and Gallagher were seniors, and Ratcliff, a freshman in 2007, did not return to school this year.
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Kimener was fourth on the team with 38 points (18 goals, 20 assists) last season as the Retrievers (11-6, 4-1 America East Conference in 2007) won their first NCAA Tournament game, upsetting Maryland in the first round. While he will not be asked to make up for all of the lost scoring, he understands that large burden now falls on his shoulders.
“I?m just trying to step up a little more this year than I did last year?” Kimener said. “Since I don?t have those guys [Westervelt, Gallagher and Ratcliffe] to take the attention,” he said, “I?m going to be even more of a marked player.”
Kimener, whose brother P.J. was a midfielder at UMBC last season, started playing lacrosse in second grade. He chose UMBC over other top schools like national champion Johns Hopkins. The former standout at Oakton High School in Virginia has never regretted that decision and is ready to help the Retrievers make the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season.
“It?s always a lacrosse atmosphere,” Kimener said of UMBC. “In Maryland, it?s kind of a second religion.”
Since arriving at UMBC three years ago, Kimener has never shied away from a challenge. The two-time All-American had his biggest game of the season last year in the NCAA Tournament against Maryland when he finished with goals. Longtime UMBC coach Don Zimmerman said Kimener is ready to take on a larger role in 2008.
“He was always able to complement our attack,” coach Don Zimmerman said. “Now, he has to understand he?s in a more take charge role.”
Kimener won?t be the only scorer asked to step up this season. Midfielder Alex Hopmann, a former Annapolis standout, was fourth on the team in goals as a sophomore last year with 20 goals, and midfielder Alex Wimer scored 10 goals last season. However, UMBC?s players know the Retrievers? offense will go through Kimener this year.
“We?re going to have to rely on him a great deal,” senior midfielder Taylor Marino said. “He?s going to be our go to guy in clutch situations when we need a goal or need a defensive stop.”
