Playing under sudden-death conditions is nothing new to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County men’s lacrosse team. The Retrievers are 3-0 in overtime games this year, with two of those wins coming in double-overtime. But UMBC coach Don Zimmerman said those wins, while providing his team with an invaluable lesson, pale in comparison with the pressure of competing in the postseason.
For 13th-ranked UMBC (9-4), this means the America East Conference tournament, which the team must win to secure an automatic NCAA tournament bid for a second straight year. The Retrievers, seeded second, take on third-seeded Binghamton (4-8) at 4 today in Albany, N.Y. UMBC won the previous meeting between the two schools, 11-10 in double-overtime on April 14.
“You can’t get much closer than the game we played against them last time,” Zimmerman said. “This situation is different than the overtime games we played because whether we won or lost those games, we knew we could come back next week. We lose here, we’re done. It’s true sudden death.”
Jake Boyce has 17 goals and eight assists to lead Binghamton, while Drew Wichmann has seven goals and 12 assists. The Bearcats closed out the regular season with a 9-8 upset over Albany (12-2), the conference’s regular-season champion.
UMBC has won five straight, but it is still not guaranteed to get an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament should it lose to either Binghamton or in the final against the winner of Stony Brook (8-4) and Albany.
The championship game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Albany.
Zimmerman said he feels his team is up for the challenge over the next three days. His upperclassmen have taken on a leadership role, while his freshmen and sophomores are playing more like veterans. With a team-high 31 goals, freshman attack Cayle Ratcliffe ranked fourth in the country among first-year players entering this week.
“This team has solid character throughout the roster and displays a work ethic that shows their willingness to do what they have to do to succeed,” Zimmerman said.
