America East

UMBC junior attack Erika Braerman (Fallston) and freshman midfielder Lindsay Cox were named the America East women's lacrosse Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively. Braerman had four goals and two assists in a victory against Jacksonville; Cox had an assist, picked up two ground balls, won two draw controls and caused a turnover. College field hockey: Maryland announced the addition of five incoming freshmen: goalie Brooke Cabrera (Greenwich, Conn.

No. 14 Yale broke a 6-6 tie with five straight goals in the third quarter to defeat No. 12 Princeton, 12-8, in the Ivy League men's lacrosse tournament championship Sunday afternoon at Cornell. The Bulldogs (11-4) beat the Tigers (9-6) in the title game for the second straight year and earned the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament field of 16. Nine Bulldogs scored in the contest. Yale's Dylan Levings, who won 19 of 23 faceoffs, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The UMBC men's lacrosse team's bid for a fifth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance wasn't going to be easy. And now, it's not going to be at all. Needing to win the America East tournament championship and the league's automatic qualifier for the third straight year, the Retrievers didn't make it out of the semifinal round, succumbing to visiting Albany in an 11-7 loss before an announced 553 at UMBC Stadium on Wednesday night. The Great Danes (5-10), the No. 3 seed in the America East tournament, will meet top-seeded Stony Brook in the tournament final Saturday.

Top-seeded Albany used a 9-1 run in the second and third quarters to defeat UMBC, 19-10, in the America East Conference men's lacrosse championship game at Stony Brook. UMBC, which entered the game 4-1 in its previous five contests, finished the season 7-8. Joe Lustgarten, Scott Jones and faceoff specialist Phil Poe were named to the All-Tournament team. Jones led the Retrievers with four goals against Albany.   There were four ties and four lead changes in the first half until Albany closed the second quarter on a 5-0 run. UMBC trailed 3-2 after one quarter and 4-2 just 34 seconds into the second, but went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead with 9:18 to play in the quarter.

Women's college basketball Vermont's Lauren Wheeler made her only 3-pointer of the game with 26 seconds left to break a tie and lift sixth-seeded Vermont (10-20) to a 47-43 win over third-seeded UMBC (10-20) in an America East quarterfinal Friday in Albany, N.Y. Sophomore forward Annie Wheeler hit one of two free throws with five seconds left to seal the victory. The Retrievers shot their second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season (.246) and didn't hit a 3-pointer for the first time since Jan. 19, 2012.

The UMBC women's basketball team tore through the America East tournament as a No. 7 seed in 2007, upsetting the top three seeds to earn its first NCAA tournament bid. This year's Retrievers (19-10, 13-3 America East) — the No. 1 seed after winning their first regular-season championship — are hoping for an upset-free run to their second NCAA tournament. "We know better than anybody that anything can happen in the tournament," UMBC coach Phil Stern said. "We won it as a seven seed.

At 2-0 in the America East, UMBC is in an enviable position. But the Retrievers are not alone as Stony Brook and Albany also have identical 2-0 conference marks. Which makes Saturday night's showdown between the Seawolves (3-7) and UMBC (4-5) at UMBC Stadium in Catonsville an especially meaningful game for both participants. Coach Don Zimmerman said the players and coaches are fully aware of the outcome's impact on the team's positioning for the regular-season championship and the top seed and homefield advantage in the league tournament.

UMBC's 10-8 loss to Stony Brook Saturday night opened the door for the Seawolves and Albany to leapfrog the Retrievers in the America East. Although Stony Brook and the Great Danes have identical 3-0 records in the league, UMBC is just one game back at 2-1 and in sole possession of third place. That's why coach Don Zimmerman emphasized that the team's goals of qualifying for the conference tournament and winning the tourney to reach the NCAA Tournament are still within reach. “There's plenty of season left,” he said Monday.

Stony Brook's Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium was chosen Thursday as host for the 2013 and 2014 America East men's lacrosse championships, marking the first time the conference has predetermined a site for the event. The location was determined in a vote of the conference's athletic directors at their fall meetings. All three games of the 2013 America East championship will take place on Long Island for the first time, starting with the semifinals Thursday, May 2 and concluding with the title game  Saturday, May 4, which will be nationally televised on ESPNU at 10 a.m. Semifinal game times will be announced on a future date.

The first half of the season has ended with UMBC compiling a 3-5 record. But the next five weeks may be more important -- and even more rewarding -- for the men's lacrosse team. Saturday's road contest at Hartford begins America East play for the Retrievers. They have won or shared four conference regular-season titles and three league tournaments, which include an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. That's why Saturday's game has been likened to the start of a new season. “It's the most important part of the season because we want to compete for a conference championship and we want to secure a bid to the NCAA tournament,” coach Don Zimmerman said Wednesday afternoon.

After opening the season with just one win in its first five games, UMBC is now one victory away from making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2009. All the the team has to do is knock off No. 10 Albany in Saturday morning's America East tournament final at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, N.Y. Retrievers coach Don Zimmerman said getting to this stage of the year is an objective every program discusses, which makes Saturday's contest that much more exhilarating. “You work hard all year - not just all season - with fall ball, weights, conditioning, and it boils down to this game,” he said Friday.

Three UMBC women's players were named to the All-America East conference teams, including defender Jamie Fahey, who was honored for the third straight year. Fahey (Loch Raven) and midfielder Kirsten Bilney (Mount Hebron) made the first team while midfielder Alyssa Semones (Westminster) made the second team. New Hampshire attacker Nicole Grote (Marriotts Ridge) and Boston University midfielder Sofia Robins (McDonogh) were named to the All-Rookie Team. Stony Brooks' Demmianne Cooke and Albany's Rachel Burek were named Co-Players of the Year and Albany coach John Battaglino was the Coach of the Year.

UMBC has enjoyed some memorable comebacks wins during Don Zimmerman's tenure. Just a couple that come to mind include a five-goal rally to edge Maryland, 8-7, on March 6, 2012 and a 5-1 fourth quarter to nip Albany, 14-13, in an America East tournament final on May 3, 2008. But the longtime coach said that the Retrievers' six-goal explosion in Thursday's 15-13 decision over Hartford in a conference tournament semifinal at Stony Brook may have been one of best he witnessed. “That was a special comeback, especially against a team like Hartford in a championship setting,” Zimmerman said Friday morning.

Joe Lustgarten scored the final two goals, including the game-winner with 55seconds left and an insurance goal 21seconds later, to cap a 6-0 run as the third-seeded UMBC men's lacrosse team upset second-seeded Hartford, 15-13, in an America East Conference semifinal at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium. The Retrievers (7-7) advance to their first championship game since 2009 and will meet No. 10 Albany on Saturday at 10 a.m.. Lustgarten led the Retrievers with four goals and two assists, while Scott Jones and freshman Pat Young added three goals each.

With a 6-7 record, UMBC's only path to the NCAA tournament entails winning the America East tournament at Stony Brook and capturing the automatic qualifier that accompanies that honor. A loss to Hartford in Thursday's semifinal or to the Albany-Stony Brook winner from the other semifinal would mean the Retrievers would begin their offseason next week while the NCAA tournament rages on. The importance of the conference tournament is not lost on coach Don Zimmerman. “Beginning Thursday, it's sudden death,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

ESPN analyst Mark Dixon, who provided color commentary for No. 7 Loyola's 8-4 victory over No. 13 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, will handle play-by-play duties for the championship final of the America East tournament at Stony Brook this Saturday and offer analysis for the title game of the Ivy League tournament at Cornell a day later. The former Blue Jays midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via his account @Dixonlacrosse, addressed questions regarding No. 5 Loyola, No. 11 Maryland and No. 13 Johns Hopkins.

The UMBC men's lacrosse team's offense sputtered throughout the first half of Saturday's game against visiting Binghamton. But the Retrievers came alive in the second half and rallied for a win that put them into the America East tournament. Freshman Pat Young scored all four of his goals in the second half, the final one a tie-breaker with 1:18 left, giving UMBC a 10-9 comeback victory. The Retrievers UMBC (6-7, 3-2 America East) will be either the No. 3 or 4 seed in the four-team conference tournament, which begins Thursday at Stony Brook.