UMBC finished in third place in the Commissioner’s Cup standings last season and there is plenty of reason to believe they will be more successful this season.

With the 2011-2012 athletic season starting in only a few days when the women’s soccer team plays their season opener here are five bold predictions for this upcoming year.

The women’s sports will break through

Ali Loynchan

Last season the volleyball team shocked a lot of people when they took an incredibly young group to finals of the America East tournament. Meanwhile, the women’s basketball team won their first-ever regular season championship and the women’s lacrosse team played in their second-straight championship game.

There is a lot of reason to believe that all three of those teams will again contend for a championship and while I’m at it, I’m saying at least two of the three will.

Last year the volleyball team had 14 players on it, 10 of them were only freshmen or sophomores, getting significant playing time. While losing Sabrina Hoeks and Bianca Sande is going to be tough both on the court and in the locker room there is plenty of leadership to be provided from their four upper classmen and plenty of talent on the roster. Ian Blanchard has also added an incredibly talented freshman class again, led by Hannah Schmidt, the Baltimore Sun and Varsity Sports Network 2010 Player of the Year.

The women’s basketball team returns three all-conference players, including two Player of the Year candidates. All three will be seniors with plenty of experience under their belts. While the team will have to replace two work-horses in Meghan Colabella and Michele Brokans, they have two eligible transfers capable of playing at a very high level while last year’s group of freshmen should be able to provide a lot in their sophomore seasons.

The women’s lacrosse team did lose a lot of talented offensive players, like Amanda Pappas, Erika Braerman, and Ashley Stodter, but there are still loads of talent left on the roster. First-team All-Conference Player Alicia Krause should once again lead the Retrievers while Emily Coady should bounce-back as a senior. The defense should also remain a solid unit with Lauren Mundell, Jessica Harkey, and Jamie Fahey all sticking around.

While I’m on the subject of women’s sports…

At least two female athletes will win Player of the Year awards

Michelle Kurowski

The only reasons the women’s basketball team did not have the America East Player of the Year last season was because Erin Brown and Michelle Kurowski were both so good that they split votes. Both should be in contention for it again this season and it might be the year one of them wins it.

Meanwhile, a member of the volleyball team will definitely be in contention of a significant award, which is what happens when you have a good team. Allie Spaay was in contention for the Setter of the Year award last year and she may have won it had she not missed significant time with an injury. Ali Loynachan should definitely be right there with the conference’s best hitters.

Alicia Krause will also be in major contention for the Player of the Year award in women’s lacrosse. Last season she was a major candidate for it after finishing with 35 goals, 15 assists, 29 ground balls, 32 draw controls, and 20 caused turnovers. With three of the team’s top five goal scorings having graduated she’ll have plenty more opportunities to score and the offense is definitely going to be going through here. Emily Coady could be a dark horse this season as well. She has a stellar sophomore campaign but was quiet last season as Erika Braerman ran the game behind the net, but now that position is open for Coady again.

Let’s also not forget about Abbey McKenney on the swimming team, who won the Most Oustanding Swimmer award after winning six gold medals at the America East Championship Meet, leading the Retrievers to a conference title.

Men’s Soccer will repeat as champions

Andrew Bulls

Whooh, that’s a pretty big prediction, especially since they lost a very talented group of seniors, including the nation’s leading scorer the past two seasons, Levi Houapeu, but the Pete Caringi lead Retrievers should once again be one of the best teams in the nation. With Andrew Bulls, Pete Caringi III, Nirav Kadam, and incoming All-American Kadeem Dacres the Retrievers should once again have a very potent offense. While John Paul Waraksa and Chris Williams will both be missed on the defensive end, the return of Sean Rothe should help bolster a defensive unit with Vince Savarese, Liam Paddock, and Daniel Welsh that played very well last season.

They team will once again be having a very interesting goalkeeper battles going into the season but with three incredibly talented players at the position, they’ll be in great shape no matter who wins it.

Caringi also brought in a very strong freshman class, led by Zach Wenger, who has been playing against top-notch competition his entire youth career as a part of the United Stats National Team.

Men’s Basketball will bounce back significantly

Chris De La Rosa

The last two seasons have been very difficult for the men’s basketball team, going a combined 9-51. But the team should definitely be much better this season. They probably won’t contend for a championship or anything but they very well could finish in the top half of the nine-team conference.

While the team does lose four players that saw significant time last season Chris De La Rosa may have been the conference best point guard last season and he’ll lead a group of guys that have finally grown up and have a lot of experience with them.

Last season four of the team’s major contributors were freshmen or sophomores but not that they know the ropes Jamar Wertz, Chase Plummer, Brian Neller and Adrian Satchell, who was an All-Rookie team selection two seasons ago, should be able to provide him with a lot of help while Randy Monroe’s incoming class is one of his most talented yet.

The Men’s Lacrosse team will return to the nation’s elite

Scott Jones

From 2006 to 2009 Don Zimmerman has the men’s lacrosse team in the upper echelon of the collegiate lacrosse world, reaching rankings as high as fourth in the nation at some points. But the last two years the team has had losing seasons and has missed the NCAA tournament. That what losing 17 All-Conference players and nine All-American in a four year span does to teams, especially when those players have to be replaced by 27 freshmen and sophomores on a 35-man rosters.

The men’s lacrosse team was incredibly young last year and it really showed. But this year Zimmerman, who is already regarded as one of the best coaches in the history of the game, really bolstered his coaching staff by getting Ed Stephenson back after an incredibly successful stint at Binghamton and has some experience to work with. Now those 27 freshmen and sophomores are seasoned players and will be joining a very experienced group of five seniors.

Scott Jones developed into an elite scorer as a sophomore while Rob Grimm continued his yearly-improvement as a junior. Players like Scott Hopmann, Dave Brown, Joe Lustgarten, Zach Linkous, Greg Korvin, Neill Lewnes, Matt Gregoire, and Ryan Johnston all showed a lot of promise last season and could make for a very dangerous and deep offensive unit while Brian McCullough, Aaron Verardi, Lucas Wood, Sam McKelvey, Riley Hansen, Breck Merritt, Nathan Klein, Ethan Murphy, and Tony Spada are all returning on the defensive side of things.

Through 12 minutes UMBC was even with the Great Danes, as the game was tied 2-2 after Amanda Pappas responded to goals from Rachel Burek and Jodi Battaglia, respectively. They the Great Danes’ top-ranked defense took over, shutting UMBC out for nearly 50 minutes, from Pappas’ second goal at 18:15 in the first half to Ashley Stodter’s goal with 2:10 left in regulation.

In that time that UMBC failed to get anything going on offense Albany ripped off nine goals and took an 11-2 lead with less than five minutes to go in the game.

After Stodter ended UMBC’s scoring drought freshman Kristen Bilney scored the team’s fourth goal with eight seconds to go but the game was long over at that point.

Pappas, Natalie Rau, and Erika Braerman were all named to the All-Championship team. Pappas has six goals in the tournament while Rau had 14 saves and Braerman has five points.

Amanda Pappas led UMBC with four goals and had an assists in the victory.

For the second-straight year the women’s lacrosse team will be playing for the America East championship as they beat the team that beat them last year, Boston U, on the road in the semi-finals, 12-11, thanks to an overtime goal by Emily Coady.

With nearly six minutes left in the first overtime period Coady go free for the game-winning goal to give UMBC their first win against the Terriers since 2006.

UMBC trailed by four goals on two different occasions in the second half but by scoring five of the game’s last six goals the Retrievers sent it into overtime where Coady came up with the game-winner.

But this game was willed by UMBC’s seniors, Amanda Pappas and Erika Braerman. Pappas scored four goals and has an assists while Braerman scored two goals and had three assists. That dup had a hand in eight of the team’s goals.

Boston U scored the first two goals of the game at 21:48 and 19:41 and after Braerman netted UMBC’s first goal of the game, the Terriers scored back-to-back goals again to take a 4-1 lead over the Retrievers. But once the clock went below seven minutes UMBC started to heat upp on offense. At 6:54 Pappas netted a pass from Braerman and 51 seconds later another senior, Ashley Stodter, scored her first of two goals off an assist from Braerman.

Danielle Etrasco gave Boston a 5-3 lead at 2:17 but with 23 seconds left before the break Pappas scored her second goal of the game from a free position shot to make it a one goal game.

Only 48 seconds out of the break Lindsay Cox tied the game but the Terriers ripped off four-straight goals, giving them a four goal lead on UMBC with 17:50 left in the second half and after Stodter scored her second goal, which was assisted by Pappas, Molly Swain scorer her third of four goals to put UMBC down four goals again.

Then, something clicked for the Retrievers. Braerman scored on a free position goal with 13:50 left in the second half and 25 seconds later Cox scored her second of three goals to make it a two goals game. Two and a half minutes later Pappas scored her third goal of the game, which was assisted to Braerman to make it a one goal difference.

Even though Swain put UMBC down by two goals three and a half minutes later, UMBC battled back and Cox and Pappas each scored again in the final three minutes. Cox scored after a dodge and cut inside with 2:33 left in the second half and Pappas tied it with only 1:55 left in regulation off a free position shot.

In overtime, neither team got many looks but Coady hit the deciding shot to send UMBC to the America East championship game on Saturday, where they will play Albany at 1:00.

Erika Braerman scored two goals and had an assist on senior day.

The seniors stepped up on senior day. Amanda Pappas scored UMBC’s first three goals and Erika Braerman netted two goals and an assist as the Retrievers got by the Bearcats of Binghamton, 9-8 in a very rough game consisting of 54 fouls, eight yellow cards, and 25 turnovers.

The emotion of senior day may have gotten to the Retrievers early on and not even four minutes in UMBC found themselves behind by two goals but Amanda Pappas netted back-to-back goals to draw even. and after Kristen Stone gave the Bearcats a lead again, Pappas completed her hat trick to tie the game at three each.

Ali Castiglie gave Binghamton the lead again with her first of three goals but with 1:07 left in the first half Kristen Bilney scorer for the eighth time this year to re-tie the game. Then, with one tick left on the clock Braerman netted her first goal of the game to give UMBC their first lead of the game.

UMBC extended the run to three 10 seconds into the second half when Alicia Krause scorer her first or two goals following the opening face-off in the second half.

But Binghamton did not make things easy and kept responding and outscored UMBC 3-1 over the next nine minutes to draw even at seven each.

Braerman gave UMBC the go-ahead goal with just under 10 minutes left in the game but Binghamton once again found a way to even the score when Beth Moore scored her third goal of the game with 8:43 left in the game.

But with exactly 8:00 left in the game Ashley Stodter scored her first goal of the game and extended her scoring streak with the game-winning goal.

Goals were at a premium for UMBC as Binghamton keeper Lauren Scott was phenomenal with 14 saves in 60 minutes.

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UMBC (9-5, 3-1 AE)

Lauren Mundell

A – Erika Braerman (25 g, 16 a, 4 GB, 3 CT)
A – Ashley Stodter (24 g, 2 a, 20 GB, 9 CT)
A – Lindsay Cox (10 g, 1 a, 5 GB, 3 CT)
M – Alicia Krause (32 g, 14 a, 25 GB, 15 CT)
M – Amanda Pappas (29 g, 5 a, 14 GB, 7 CT)
M – Meagan Linkous (1 g, 1 a, 7 GB. 5 CT)
M – Kristen Milligan (17 GB,3 CT)
D – C.J. Durham (14 GB, 14 CT)
D – Jessica Harkey (10 GB, 5 CT)
D – Lauren Mundell (13 GB, 9 CT)
GK – Natalie Rau (80 s, 110 GA, 42.1 save%)

Key Reserves

A – Emily Coady (19 g, 9 a, 6 GB)
M – Kristen Bilney (7 g, 3 a, 7 GB, 8 CT)
M – Madi Bell (3 g, 4 a, 13 GB, 8 CT)

Key Wins:
New Hampshire – 10-8
Stony Brook – 10-8

Key Losses:
@ Boston U – 13-9
Johns Hopkins – 12-7

Goals Per Game: 11.14
Goals Against Per Game: 9.86

Binghamton (3-10, 1-2 AE)

Beth Moore

A – Kimberly McGeever (10 g, 4 a, 13 GB, 1 CT)
A – Lis Zuern (27 g, 11 a, 9 GB, 4 CT)
A – Ali Castigle (27 g, 7 a, 14 GB, 3 CT)
M – Beth Moore (31 g, 1 a, 28 GB, 17 CT)
M – Lizzie Wright (5 g, 3 a, 11 GB, 7 CT)
M – Lena Amalfitano (4 GB, 4 CT)
D – Siobhan Menz (1 g, 31 GB, 12 CT)
D – Lindsay Vona (6 GB, 7 CT)
D – Lauren Lukefahr (1 g, 23 GB, 20 CT)
D – Kristin Pennino (11 GB, 12 CT)
GK – Lauren Scott (118 s, 159 GA, 42.6 save%)

Key Reserves

A – Lindsay Angelillo (4 g, 4 GB, 1 CT)
M – Katherin Hunsberger (6 g, 10 GB, 8 CT)
M – Brittany Stufano (2 g, 1 a, 7 GB, 3 CT)
M – Amanda Hughes (2 g, 5 GB, 6 CT)
M – Casey Bulman (1 g, 1 a, 6 GB, 1 CT)
M – Allie Sabitus (1 g, 2 GB, 1 CT)

Key Wins:
Niagara – 20-8
Vermont – 14-13

Key Losses:
Boston U – 15-6
Stony Brook – 10-9

Goals Per Game: 9.23
Goals Against Per Game: 12.23

*Projected Starters

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UMBC has not played particularly great their last four game, even their wins were too close for comfort, so last game Kelly Berger made a couple changes in her lineup hoping to find something to spark the team. But it didn’t work. With the loss of Jamie Fahey on the defensive end of the field the women’s lacrosse team was outrun by Johns Hopkins as their fastest player and possibly best defender is done for the season. But they still have plenty of offensive talent on the team and can make huge runs against any team that goes against them.

As for Binghamton, they are a better team than their record says, many of their games they’ve been in until their opponents made late runs to make things look worse than they were. Binghamton is a scrappy defensive team but they’re going to be going up against a very emotional women’s lacrosse team that want to give their seniors a senior day victory.

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Starters

UMBC
A – Erika Braerman, Emily Coady
M – Alicia Krause, Ashley Stodter, Kristen Milligan, Kristen Bilney, Amanda Pappas, Madi Bell
D – Meagan Linkous, Jessica Harkey, C.J. Durham
GK – Natalie Rau

Binghamton
A – Lindsay Angelillo, Lis Zuern, Ali Castigle
M – Beth Moore, Lizzie Wright, Katherin Hunsberger, Amanda Hughes
D – Siobhan Menz, Lindsay Vona, Lauren Lukefahr, Kristin Pennino
GK – Lauren Scott

The one time I don’t project Emily Coady in the starting lineup she gets back in. There aren’t too many changes from last game, except Coady is in for Lindsay Cox, which is presumably a strategy to get more offense.

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First Quarter

29:13 – Binghamton Goal
UMBC is down a goal quick after Katherine Hunsberger took an inside pass from Lis Zuern and put it in the top right corner of the goal. 1-0 Bing

27:49 – Binghamton Goal
Beth Moore made a dodge right in front of the goal and got the ball right past Natalie Ray on the one-on-one situation. 2-0 Bing

25:48 – UMBC Goal
Emily Coady came around the back of the net from the right side and passed it right inside to Amanda Pappas, who put it right in the top of the goal for the score. 2-1 Bing

24:48
Binghamton keeper Lauren Scott made a pass out to the left side of the field and had the pass knocked down by Ashley Stodter. Stodter scooped up the ground ball, shot it high after running in toward the goal, but Scott made the save.

22:10 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause made a dodge inside and got the ball up to Amanda Pappas and from just outside the crease she put the ball in the right side of the goal to tie things up. 2-2 Ties

21:34
Emily Coady had a free position shot saved but the ball bounced off Lauren Scott’s stick and as Binghamton scrambles to get it back it went out of bounced, giving UMBC the ball back.

21:04
Alicia Krause was fouled and given a free position shot but Lauren Scott recorded her fourth save of the game.

18:56
Amanda Pappas was fouled and given a free position shot but it bounced right in front of the goal and went wide.

15:44 – Binghamton Goal
Kristen Stone was given a free position shot after a UMBC foul and two UMBC yellow cards, one on Kristen Bilney one on the team. 3-2 Bing

15:19
A yellow card on Binghamton evened the field to 10 on 10 but Erika Braerman sent the shot wide on a free position shot.

12:31
Krause rolled around a Binghamton defender and got a clear look at the goal but Lauren Scott recorded her sixth save in the first 18 minutes of the game.

9:31
Ashley Stodter was given a shooting space foul but sent the free position shot way high and way wide.

8:13 – UMBC Goal
Amanda Pappas is stepping up on senior day after taking an inside pass from Erika Braerman for her third goal of the game. 3-3

5:51
Madi Bell stormed right up the middle of the field and hit a shot in the top of the goal but it was taken back but her momentum carried her into the crease and it was taken away.

4:45 – Binghamton Goal
Right after the turnover by UMBC Binghamton ran up the field, made a few passes, drew a foul and Ali Castigle scored high on the free position shot. 4-3 Bing

1:27
Liz Zuern got a yellow card and UMBC will have an advantage for the remainder of the first half anf for the first 1:33 of the second half.

1:07 – UMBC Goal
UMBC storms up the field after the card and Kristen Bilney scored on a high shot to tie it up four. 4-4

0:01 – UMBC Goal
One tick left on the clock and senior Erika Braerman storms around the right side of the goal and blasts a low shot through traffic to the bottom of the goal. 5-4 UMBC

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Halftime – UMBC 5, Binghamton 4

This is one sloppy game, there are a combined 35 fouls and 17 turnovers between the two teams but Amanda Pappas is stepping up big time in her final regular season home game and scored UMBC’s first three goals but any score is hard to come by with Lauren Scott in goal for the Bearcats as she had nine saves in the first half.

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29:50 – UMBC Goal
Right after the opening draw control Alicia Krause ran right down the middle of the field and put the ball in the net to double UMBC’s lead. 6-4 UMBC

26:18 – Binghamton Goal
Ali Castigle came around the left side of the goal, made a cut to get to the outside of the UMBC defender and put her shot right past Natalie Rau’s head. 6-5 UMBC

22:26 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause took an inside pass made a cut to the outside and put the ball in the top of the goal to re-establish a two goal leads for UMBC. 7-5 UMBC

21:22 – Binghamton Goal
After a foul down UMBC’s side of the field Binghamton got the ball, got up the field in a hurry, and Beth Moore blasted the shot high into the goal to cut UMBC’s lead in half again. 7-6 UMBC

Following the goal Kendall Mason replaced Natalie Rau in goal.

20:56
Kristen Bilney was called for a yellow card, her second of the game, ejecting her from the game but after three minutes UMBC can sub back in. There was also a yellow card on Lis Zuern, which was her second so she is also out for the rest of the game.

17:00 – Binghamton Goal
Ali Castiglie scored her third goal of the game after a cross check just outside the crease gave her a free position shot. 7-7

UMBC called a timeout after the Binghamton goal and Natalie Rau is back in the cage.

11:25
Natalie Rau came up with a big save after Beth Moore ran right at her after a free position shot.

9:36 – UMBC Goal
Erika Braerman ran around the goal from the right side and while she was making her way to the left she blasted a shot low to give UMBC the lead. 8-7 UMBC

8:43 – Binghamton Goal
Beth Moore scored her third goal of the game with an inside cut to the goal. 8-8

8:00 – UMBC Goal
Senior Ashley Stodter scores her first goal of the game from right in front of the goal on a low shot. 9-8 UMBC

2:28
Binghamton’s Lindsay Vona gets a yellow card, she’s out for the left of regulation.

1:51
Beth Moore gets called for a foul and gets handed a yellow card so Binghamton is two down for the rest of regulation.

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Final Score – UMBC 9, Binghamton 8

UMBC escapes with a rough win to improve to 4-1 in conference play.

More to come after I chat with the players!

However, Johns Hopkins ended the half with two goals in the final ten minutes to go into the break, 6-2.

UMBC struck first in the second half. Alicia Krause scored three goals in the game to give her 11 in the team’s last three games. Her first was only five seconds into the second half but The Blue Jays traded goals with UMBC, responding to Krause’s goal, Ashley Stodter’s goal, and then Krause’s second goal with three-straight to take an 11-5 lead.

The Retriever did not quite however. Krause score her third goal of the game with just under 10 minutes to play and Emily Coady scored another for UMBC with just over five minutes left to make it an 11-7 game. But Hopkins kept possession for the majority of final five minutes and score again with 44 second left after Taylor D’Amore, who scored three goals and had three assists in the game, was checked and the ball flew out of her stick and into the goal.

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UMBC (9-4)

Alicia Krause

A – Emily Coady (18 goals, 9 assists, 6 GB)
A – Erika Braerman (25 goals, 14 asts, 4 GB)
A – Ashley Stodter (23 goals, 2 assists, 20 GB)
M – Alicia Krause (29 goals, 14 assists, 21 GB)
M – Amanda Pappas (28 goals, 5 asts, 14 GB)
M – Meagan Linkous (1 goal, 1 asts, 5 GB, 5 CT)
M – Kristen Milligan (16 GB, 3 CT)
D – C.J. Durham (13 GB, 14 CT)
D – Lauren Mundell (13 GB, 7 CT)
D – Jamie Fahey (25 GB, 12 CT)
GK – Natalie Rau (71 Saves, 98 GA, 42.0 save%)

Key Reserves

M – Lindsay Cox (10 goals, 1 assists, 5 GB)
M – Madi Bell (3 goals, 4 assists, 13 GB, 8 CT)
M – Kristen Bilney (6 goals, 3 assists, 7 CT)
M – Taelar Errington (1 goals, 1 assists)
M – Jennie Ballenger (4 goals)
D – Jessica Harkey (10 GB, 5 CT)

Key Wins:
Manhattan – 20-6
New Hampshire – 10-8

Key Losses:
@Duquesne – 8-7
@ Boston U – 13-9

Goals Per Game: 11.46
Goals Allowed Per Game: 9.69

Johns Hopkins (7-5)

Colleen McCaffrey

A – Rachel Ballatori (13 goals, 7 assists, 3 GB)
A – Candace Rossi (22 goals, 10 assists, 9 CT)
M – Brooke Foussadier (14 goals, 9 a, 11 GB)
M – Brianna Cronin (8 goals, 13 GB, 3 CT)
M – Taylor D’Amore (20 g, 11 a, 11 GB, 12 CT)
M – Colleen McCaffrey (29 goals, 7 a, 12 GB)
M – Courtney Schweizer (2 g, 1 a, 9 GB, 3 CT)
M – Rachel Serio (1 goal, 13 GB, 3 CT)
D – Alyssa Kildare (2 goals, 1 a, 29 GB, 20 CT)
D – Brooke Lipinski (11 GB, 11 CT)
D – Sammi Arbitman (10 GB, 8 CT)
GK – Cosette Larash (78 svs, 105 GA, 42.6 s%)

Key Reserves:

Sarah Taylor (8 goals, 4 assists, 5 GB)
A – Katie Duffey (9 goals, 5 GB, 1 CT)
A – Monica Fisher (2 goals, 2 assists, 5 GB)
A – Ana Henrich (2 goals, 0 assists, 1 GB)
M – Sammy Cermack (5 goals, 1 assist, 7 GB, 4 CT)
M – Cami Kramer (2 goals, 1 assist, 4 GB)
M – Sophia Sherry (4 GB, 3 CT)

Key Wins:
@ Towson – 10-1
@ Drexel – 10-7

Key Losses:
@ Harvard – 12-8
@ Florida – 14-10

Goals Per Game: 11.67
Goals Allowed Per Game: 8.75

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Even though they won their last two games the women’s lacrosse team has not played their best lacrosse their last three games. But Johns Hopkins hasn’t either. They have not lost to a bad team all year, but the wins they have should be better than they are. They don’t have a win against a good team that was really a one sided game at all. Like UMBC, Johns Hopkins has a bunch of offensive weapons and anybody can step up and score for them. Their defense is also better; however, their goalkeeper has been choppy. If UMBC can play like they did against New Hampshire, which they are perfectly capable of doing, they can be one of the best teams in the country and right now they have to get back to that.

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Starters

UMBC
A – Erika Braerman
M – Lindsay Cox, Alicia Krause, Ashley Stodter, Kristen Milligan, Kristen Bilney, Amanda Pappas, Madi Bell
D – Meagan Linkous, Jessica Harkey, C.J. Durham
GK – Natalie Rau

Johns Hopkins
A – Brooke Foussadier, Colleen McCaffrey, Rachel Ballatori, Candace Rossi
M – Brianna Cronin, Taylor D’Amore, Rachel Ballatori
D – Alyssa Kildare, Brooke Lipinski, Sammi Abritman
GK – Cosette Larash

When your team isn’t playing to the best of their ability coaches have to find a way to spark them to get them to play better and that is exactly what Kelly Berger is doing. She’s switching things up and even though only one attack is listed they will play with three players on attack.

UPDATE: Jamie Fahey is out for the season with an ACL injury, which explain why the 2010 Rookie of the Year is not starting.

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First Quarter

24:55 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Rachel Ballatori scores the first goal of the game of an assist from Taylor D’Amore. 1-0 JHU

24:30 – UMBC Goal
Amanda Pappas was right in front of the goal and took an inside pass from Erika Braerman and put the ball in the net to tie things up. 1-1 UMBC

23:09 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Brooke Foussadier give Hopkins the lead back. 2-1 JHU

22:47 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Candace Rossi makes it a two goal lead for JHU. 3-1 JHU

16:34 – Johns Hopkins Goal
JHU is putting a lot of pressure on UMBC and Taylor D’Amore broke to take a 3-goal lead. 4-1 JHU

11:40 – UMBC Goal
Erika Braerman gets credit for her second helper when Kristen Bilney ended the drought to cut JHU’s lead. 4-2 JHU

9:45 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Sammy Cermack put in a pass from Candace Rossie to put UMBC down three goals. 5-2 JHU

0:35 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Colleen McCaffrey capitalized on a late UMBC mistake following a nice save from Natalie Rau to give JHU a four goal lead. 6-2 JHU

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Halftime – Johns Hopkins 6, UMBC 2

UMBC really struggled in that first half. Natalie Rau has made seven saves but they are losing draw controls, 7-2 and ground balls 10-6.

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Second Half

29:53 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause ran right up the middle of the field off a draw control and hit the high shot. 6-3 JHU

27:26 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Colleen McCaffrey scored her second goal of the game. 7-3 JHU

24:44 – UMBC Goal
Ashley Stodter scored a free position goal after a shooting space foul on the Blue Jays. 7-4 JHU

21:06 – Johns Hopkins Goal
UMBC got cause jogging up the field in transition as Rachel Ballatori scores a goal. 8-4 JHU

18:31 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause is in a really hot stretch right now, scoring her second goal of the game and 11th in three games. 8-5 JHU

14:35 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Brooke Foussadier got free for her second goal of the game. 9-5 JHU

13:32 – UMBC Goal
Candace Rossi just beat Alicia Krause purely on size, shooting right over her. 10-5 JHU

11:08 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Talor D’Amore cut right in front of the goal and hit a high shot for a 6-goal lead. 11-5 JHU

9:33 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause ran to the middle from outside, took a pass, rolled off the JHU defender, and hit the goal high. 11-6 JHU

5:01 – UMBC Goal
UMBC isn’t giving up and Emily Coady just made it a four goal game with her first goal of the game. 11-7 JHU

0:44 – Johns Hopkins Goal
Taylor D’Amore got checked from behind and the ball went into the goal, her third of the game to go with three assists. 12-7 JHU

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Final Score: Johns Hopkins 12, UMBC 7

The talent difference between Hopkins and UMBC was pretty clear and the loss of Jamie Fahey and her speed was pretty clear as well.

Junior Emily Coady scored three goals off the bench for UMBC.

Only a few days after carrying UMBC to a victory past Stony Brook with six points, junior midfielder Alicia Krause scored four goals and had an assist to lead the women’s lacrosse team to a 14-13 victory over Vermont at Moulton Winder Field.

This is not your grandfather’s Vermont Catamount team that was historically an easy victory in the past, this is a much improved squad that have a very strong home field advantage. But the women’s lacrosse team jumped out early the get past them.

Krause scored the games first goal in only 1:29 and Emily Coady doubled the Retriever lead not even 30 seconds later. The conference’s reigning Rookie of the Week, Sydney Mas, got Vermont on the board a few minutes later but Meagan Linkous responded with a goal less than a minute later.

Vermont was able to score again when Marcie Marino netted a ball in a free position shot but once again UMBC scored fast afterward to not allow the Catamounts to get any sort of momentum. Krause scored only 13 seconds later and then scored two more times in the first 18 minutes of the game.

Once again though, after Vermont finally scored at 9:39, Erika Braerman scored only eight ticks of the clock later to take what ever momentum the Catamounts might have had away. She then responded to a goal by Samantha Stern while Ashley Stodter netted a goal off a pass from Krause after Megan MacDonald scored, giving UMBC a 10-5 lead at the break.

UMBC extended their lead to six goals forty seconds into the second half when Coady netted her second goal of the game but Vermont had three-straight scores from Marino, Mas, and Stern, to cut UMBC’s lead to three goals.

That three was doubled in four minutes, however, as Amanda Pappas scored, followed by Coady and Braerman boh completing hat tricks.

But Braerman’s goal with 15:16 left in the game would be UMBC’s last and Vermont went on a big run at the end of the game. Mas and Allison Pfohl each scored two of the Catamounts five goals to close out the game but the Retriever defense would not allow Vermont to get the equalizing goal.

The five points in the game gave Krause 100 in her career and joins Braerman, Coady, and Pappas in the 100-point club, giving the Retrievers four teammates with 100 career points for the second time ever, the first time being in 1987.

Alicia Krause scored five goals against Stony Brook.

The UMBC women’s lacrosse team was stuck in a big whole early. They weren’t playing well, weren’t sliding, and weren’t cutting and went down 4-1 in 11:31. But Alicia Krause kept UMBC alive. She scored five goals in the game, three of which came in the first half.

After giving up the games first goal Krause tied the game at 25:33 and after Stony Brook went on a three-goal run, Krause netted back-to-back goals for a hat trick in only 20 minutes.

Stony Brook was putting up a huge fight though, not wanting to give UMBC the easy conference victory. Samantha Djaha scored her third goal of the game to doubled the Seawolves lead but in the final two minutes of the half Amanda Pappas got UMBC back within one goal, trailing only 5-4.

Krause tied the game coming out of the break with her fourth goal of the game but Stony Brook went back up less than one minute later.

UMBC was playing much better though and Krause one again tied the game.

Then the Seawolves decided they had to defend her and shut her out the rest of the way after Kaitlyn Harrison gave Stony Brook a one goal lead again. But that much attention to Krause left everybody else open and UMBC went on a four-goal run, sparked by Pappas’ 100th career goal. Following her second goal of the game Lindsay Cox, Emily Coady, and Ashley Stodter all netted goals, letting UMBC play keep away for a lot of the remainder of the game.

Natalie Rau recorded eight saves in the 10-8 victory.

UMBC (7-4, 1-1 AE)

Ashley Stodter

A – Erika Braerman (22 goals, 13 assists, 35 SOG)
A – Ashley Stodter (21 goals, 2 assists, 39 SOG)
A – Emily Coady (14 goals, 8 assists, 6 GB)
M – Alicia Krause (20 goals, 12 assists, 17 GB)
M – Amanda Pappas (25 goals, 5 assists, 10 GB)
M – Kristen Bilney (5 goals, 2 assists, 6 GB)
M – Kristen Milligan (14 GB, 2 CT)
D – C.J. Durham (11 GB, 13 CT)
D – Meagan Linkous (5 GB, 3 CT)
D – Lauren Mundell (13 GB, 9 CT)
D – Jamie Fahey (24 GB, 13 CT)
GK – Natalie Rau (54 saves, 77 GA, 41.2 save%)

Key Reserves:

M – Lindsay Cox (9 goals, 1 assist, 4 GB)
M – Madie Bell (3 goals, 4 assists, 13 GB)
M – Taelar Errington (1 goal, 1 assist, 2 SOG)
D – Jessica Harkey (9 GB, 5 CT)

Key Wins:
vs. Delaware – 8-5
vs. New Hampshire – 10-8

Key Loses:
vs. Duquesne – 8-7
@ Boston U – 13-9

Goals Per Game: 11.36
Goals Allowed Per Game: 9.55

Stony Brook (3-7, 0-2 AE)

Melissa Cook

A – Abby Ford (7 goals, 12 assists, 3 GB)
A – Samantha Djaha (13 goals, 3 GB, 1 CT)
A – Alyssa Cardillo (8 goals, 17 assists, 17 SOG)
M – Victoria Cable (19 goals, 6 GB, 6 CT)
M – Kaila Gottick (17 goals, 6 assists, 8 GB)
M – Melissa Cook (22 goals, 2 assists, 7 GB)
M – Courtney Bertolone (3 goals, 2 assists, 15 GB)
D – Tara Gerstacker (18 GB, 10 CT)
D – Cori Kennedy (9 GB, 3 CT)
D – Melissa Rotante (5 GB, 1 CT)
GK – Mickey Cahill (73 saves, 96 GA, 43.2 save%)

Key Reserves:

M – Kailtyn Harrison (4 goals, 1 GB, 1 CT)
M – Abby Juliani (3 GB, 0 CT)
D – Justyne Passarelli (19 GB, 13 CT)
D – Jackie Gentile (1goal, 18 GB, 5 CT)

Key Wins:
vs. Manhattan – 18-6
vs. Iona – 18-7

Key Losses:
@ Vermont – 15-7
vs. Albany – 11-5

Goals Per Game: 10.80
Goals Allowed Per Game: 12.60

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Last weekend the women’s lacrosse team lost a devastating match to Boston University, which was a rematch of the 2010 America East Championship game. UMBC is at the level of a contender but they could not get the job done. Today you can guarantee they’ll be both ready and hungry to come out and play and get a win.

Stony Brook could cause a bit of trouble with a high-scoring offense but their defense is suspect and if UMBC can play a fast tempo and get out quick the Seawolves could be in trouble early.

——————-

First Half

10:04
Sorry folks I was running a bit behind but so far 10 minutes in UMBC is trailing 3-1. Alicia Krause scored the goal for UMBC but Stony Brook has had two goals by Samantha Djaha and another from Alyssa Cardillo.

11:31 – Stony Brook Goal
Melissa Cook just score again. Things aren’t looking good for UMBC right now. 4-1 SBU

12:22 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause scores again, cuts the deficit to two. 4-2 SBU

20:16 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause is willing UMBC back into this game, scoring her third goal of the game. 4-3 SBU

24:52 – SBU Goal
Samantha Djaha doubles the Seawolves lead with her third goal of the day off Abby Ford’s third assists of the day. 5-3 SBU

28:18 – UMBC Goal
Amanda Pappas scores off a pass from Alicia Krause. 5-4 SBU

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Halftime – 5-4 Stony Brook

UMBC seemed a little shell shocked out there. Stony Brook jumped out to a big lead and while UMBC is only trailing by one right now there’s a step behind every play.

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Second Half

3:05 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause scored again to tie the game, this one is up in the air now. 5-5 Ties

4:37 – SBU Goal
Victoria Cahill gives SBU the lead back. 6-5 SBU

8:49 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause is having a great day, scores her fifth goal of the game. 6-6 Tied

10:09 – SBU Goal
Kaitlyn Harrison puts SBU back up. 7-6 SBU

11:48 – UMBC Goal
Amanda Pappas scores her 100th career goal to tie the game. 7-7 Tied

14:15 – UMBC Goal
UMBC takes their first lead of the game off a goal from Lindsay Cox. 8-7 UMBC

16:53 – UMBC Goal
Emily Coady gives UMBC a two-goal lead. Things are going UMBC’s way now. 9-7 UMBC

17:36 – UMBC Goal
Ashley Stodter makes it three-straight for UMBC. 10-7

23:26 – SBU Goal
Jackie Gentile ends UMBC’s run. 10-8

——————-

Final Score – 10-8 UMBC

UMBC got away with a win, having tom come back from a four goal deficit at one point. Alicia Krause completely kept them in the game and finally UMBC made the run they needed.

More to come.

UMBC was beaten on draw controls, 17-7 and turned the ball over 15 times against the Terriers. Boston U took a 3-0 lead nine minutes into the game before Erika Braerman netted back-to-back goals and Ashley Stodter and Emily Coady made it a 4-3 UMBC lead.

But that lead did not last long. The Retrievers still struggled to keep possession and allowed back-to-back goals from BU before Amanda Pappas tied it back up with 12 seconds left in the half, sending the game into the break with a 5-5 tie.

Madi Bell gave UMBC a lead again three and a half minutes into the break but UMBC was outscored 8-3 the rest of the way for their first conference loss of the year, falling to 1-1 in AEC play.

Through three quarters UMBC was was locked in a defensive battle against the Bobcats but they scored four goals in the final 10 minutes of the game to walk away with their second victory of the year.

Erika Braerman recorded her third hat trick of the season.

The women’s lacrosse team beat New Hampshire for the first time ever, topping the Wildcats, 10-8. The first half was as expected, a high-scoring affair. UMBC went into halftime with an 8-6 lead bu in the second half UMBC went for possession and only four goals were scored between the two teams.

After Alicia Krause scored the first goal of the game UNH scored back-to-back goals and after UMBC tied it back up, the Wildcats went back up by a goal.

Then UMBC went on a five goal run. Amanda Pappas netted her second and third goals of the game in that run, she also scored UMBC’s second goal of the game, giving her 17 goals in the last four games.

The defense was really struggling in the second half but after New Hampshire scored their second goal of the half at 22:51, cutting UMBC’s lead to 9-8, UMBC barely ever let UNH get the ball back.

Kelly Berger called a time out with 10 minutes left in the game to calm her team down and right after, Krause netted her third goal of the game to give UMBC a two-goal lead that stuck the rest of the game.

While the defense was suspect down the stretch, Natalia Rau, who had six saves, made two impressive saves at the end.

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UMBC (6-3)

Amanda Pappas

A – Erika Braerman (17 goals, 13 assists, 3 GB)
A – Emily Coady (13 goals, 8 assists, 5 GB)
A – Ashley Stodter (19 goals, 1 assist, 13 GB)
M – Alicia Krause (17 goals, 9 assists, 14 GB)
M – Amanda Pappas (21 goals, 4 assts, 10 GB)
M – Kristen Milligan (11 GB, 4 CT)
M – Kristen Bilney (5 goals, 6 GB, 7 CT)
D – Meagan Linkous (3 GB, 1 CT)
D – Jamie Fahey (19 GB, 11 CT)
D – Lauren Mundell (11 GB, 9 CT)
D – C.J. Durham (6 GB, 11 CT)
GK – Natalie Rau (43 saves, 56 GA, 43.4 save%)

Key Reserves:

M – Lindsay Cox (6 goals, 1 assist, 3 GB)
M – Madi Bell (2 goals, 4 assists, 11 GB)
M – Taelar Errington (1 goal, 1 assist)
D – Jessica Harkey (7 GB, 3 CT)

Key Wins:
vs. Delaware – 8-5
vs. Manhattan – 20-6

Key Losses:
@ Duquesne – 8-7
vs. Loyola – 15-8

Goals Per Game: 11.78
Goals Allowed Per Game: 9.33

New Hampshire (5-3)

Jojo Curro

A – Meghan Bridges (2 goals, 1 assist, 2 GB)
A – Jenny Simpson (12 goals, 2 assists, 7 GB)
A – Jojo Curro (3 goals, 6 assists, 2 GB)
M – Kate Keagins (14 goals, 8 a, 25 GB, 20 CT)
M – Amber Casiano (11 goals, 8 assists, 3 GB)
M – Allie Duclos (7 goals, 22 GB, 16 CT)
M – Ally Stager ( 5 goals, 17 GB, 10 CT)
D – Erin Levesque (6 GB, 2 CT)
D – Casey Doyle (15 GB, 8 CT)
D – Cara Dowdle (7 GB, 6 CT)
D – Cori Rees (6 GB, 4 CT)
GK – Kathleen O’Keefe (31 S, 53 GA, 36.9 S%)

Key Reserves:

M – Ilana Cohen (13 goals, 6 assts, 10 GB, 6 CT)
M – Hayley Rausch (9 goals, 2 assists, 2 CT)
M – Chelsea Cyster (3 goals, 1 assist, 1 CT)
M – Molly Gaffey (1 goals, 1 assist, 2 GB)
D – Sarah Campbell (3 goals, 1 assist, 1 CT)
D – Jamie DePetris (5 GB, 1 CT)

Key Wins:
vs. George Mason – 11-8
vs. Presbyterian – 20-4

Key Losses:
vs. Massachusetts – 11-4
@ Vanderbilt – 11-6

Goals Per Game: 10.38
Goals Allowed Per Game: 8.50

*projected starters

——————–

So far this is the most important game for the women’s lacrosse team as it is their America East conference opener. Last season UMBC was beaten by New Hampshire handedly, 16-8, in Durham, and this year the Wildcats are a much stronger squad. They have a lot of offensive weapons and a load of midfielders that are very good two-way players. Their defense is also a lot better this season because of those talented midfielders. Not only can they get the ball in the net, but they cause a lot of turnovers and capitalize on them.

But UMBC can score too. Amanda Pappas has been dominating on offense, scoring 14 goals, in three games. But she’s far from the only option. UMBC has four 10+ goal scorers, four of whom have topped 15 in only nine games. While New Hampshire has gotten much better, so has UMBC and they’re going to be out their to rebound from their loss to Loyola.

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Starters

UMBC
A – Erika Braerman, Ashley Stodter
M – Lindsay Cox, Alicia Krause, Amanda Pappas
D – Jamie Fahey, Meagan Linkous, Lauren Mundell, Kristen milligan, Jessica Harkey, C.J. Durham
GK -Natalie Rau

New Hampshire
A – Jenny Simpson, Jojo Curro
M – Kate Keagins, Amber Casiano, Ilana Cohen, Allie Duclos, Hayley Rausch, Ally Stager
D – Erin Levesque, Casey Boyle, Cars Dowdle
GK – Kathleen O’Keefe

Kelly Berger went with a similar lineup last game, she’s apparently trying to get more of a defensive team out on the field early to keep her bevvy of attacks fresh throughout the game.

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First Half

2:07 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause scored a Free Position goal after UNH had a shooting space foul. 1-0 UMBC

4:27 – UNH Goal
Amber Casiano tied the game with a quick shot down off a pass from Hayley Raush. 1-1 Tied

8:00 – UNH Goal
UMBC made a bad pass and was intercepted by a UNH defender. Hayley Rausch capitalized on the mistake off a Jojo Curro pass. 2-1 UNH

9:54 – UMBC Goal
Meagan Linkous was given a free position shot and made a quick pass to Amanda Pappas, who was running parallel to the goal. 2-2 Tied

10:35 – UNH Goal
Hayley Rausch hooked up with Ilana Krause to give UNH a quick lead. 3-2 UNH

13:09 – UMBC Goal
After a shooting space foul, Erika Braerman capitalized on a free position goal. 3-3 Tied

13:57 – UMBC Goal
A UNH defender committed a 3-second violation by standing in the small fan without being on a UMBC offensive player. Alicia Krause was given a free position shot and made it low. 4-3 UMBC

14:17 – UMBC Goal
Erika Braerman made a nice runs down the field and made a quick dodge after winning a draw control. 5-3 UMBC

19:46 – UMBC Goal
Amanda Pappas blasted a high shot on a free position shot after she was fouled while splitting two defenders. 6-3

21:21 – UMBC Goal
Alicia Krause just stormed up the field, split to defenders, and made a pass over another one to get the ball to Amanda Pappas, who netted her third goal of the game. 7-3 UMBC

20:13 – UNH Goal
Ilana Cohen ends UMBC’s run with a quick dodge and low shot. 7-4 UMBC

27:03 – UNH Goal
Hayley Rausch makes it back-to-back UNH goals. 7-5 UMBC

27:19 – UMBC Goal
Erika Braerman gets another goal off a draw control off a pass from Ashley Stodter. 8-5 UMBC

27:30 – UNH Goal
Ally Stager responds with her own quick goal off a draw control, running right down the middle of the field for the score. 8-6 UMBC

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Halftime Score

8-6 UMBC
This is a very even matchup, as expected. Every time one team gets in a rhythm the other team ends their run. With a two goal difference in the score this one is far from over.

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Second Half

0:57 – UNH Goal
Kate Keagins made a nice roll inside to get withing one score of the Retrievers. 8-7 UMBC

4:13 – UMBC Goal
Amanda Pappas got the ball to Lindsay Cox, who was wide open in front of the goal and shot it down to the lower left corner for the score. 9-7 UMBC

7:09 – UNH Goal
UMBC is not playing well defensively right now. They commit another dumb foul and Kate Keagins scores on a free-position shot. 9-8 UMBC

20:08
UMBC started playing the possession game but after a long timeout Alicia Krause scored a quick goal off a roller. 10-8 UMBC

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FINAL SCORE

UMBC 10, UNH 8

The defense was pretty questionable early on so UMBC decided to just waste some time and at the end, despite heavy defensive pressure from UNH, they just didn’t give up the ball and never allowed New Hampshire a chance to score as the Retrievers were able to walk away with the 10-8 conference victory.

Amanda Pappas has scored 14 goals in her last three games.

It wasn’t going to be easy for the women’s lacrosse team as they went up against Loyola, the sixth-ranked team in the country, and in the end they were just simply beaten by the Greyhounds, 15-8. But honestly, it wasn’t that terrible.

Loyola was obvious with what they were doing in order to stop the Retriever’s offense, they shut down Erika Braerman and Emily Coady, the two behind-the-net attackers that UMBC has.

But shutting down the initiators of the offense, UMBC struggled to get goals consistently. But in order to shut those two down Loyola made the choice to not focus on Amanda Pappas and Ashley Stodter, who scored four and three goals, respectfully. It was the rest of the offensive players that could not get the ball in a good position to make something happen.

Loyola went up 2-0 in eight minutes after Taryn VanThof netted back-to-back goals for the Greyhounds.

Pappas finally got UMBC on the board with a goal in the 15th minute but Loyola struck back with five goals to UMBC’s two the rest of the way to take a 7-3 lead into the break.

The Greyhounds were hot right out of the break, netting three goals to open the half, but UMBC responded with three-straight goals of their own to get back within four goals of their opponent. Loyola just showed why they are one of the best teams in the nation and once again outscored the Retrievers 5-2 the rest of the way.