1. One key to an UMBC win: The Retrievers fell to 1-2 after dropping a 12-7 decision to No. 3 North Carolina last Saturday. UMBC’s top two defenders had so-so days with senior Bobby Atwell surrendering two goals and one assist to junior attackman Billy Bitter and senior Matt Kresse shutting out senior attackman Gavin Petracca in terms of goals but giving up three assists. Atwell could be assigned to Blue Jays senior attackman Steven Boyle (14 goals and five assists), while Kresse could draw senior attackman Chris Boland (two goals in his first game back from a three-game suspension). If Atwell and Kresse can cut down on Boyle’s and Boland’s contributions, the Retrievers’ outlook improves immensely.

2. One key to a Johns Hopkins win: The Blue Jays absorbed their first loss of the season, falling, 11-10, in overtime to then-No. 8 Princeton at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium. For all of the attention paid to the returning attack, senior midfielder Michael Kimmel is a critical cog in the offense. After recording six goals and five assists in his first three games, Kimmel was limited by Tigers sophomore long-stick midfielder Jonathan Meyers to only two assists until Kimmel scored the game-tying goal with 14 seconds left in regulation. Kimmel gets another tough match-up in UMBC senior long-stick midfielder Mike Camardo, who leads the defense with six caused turnovers.

3. One key match-up: After winning just 41.7 percent of their face-offs last season, the Retrievers are five percentage points better, and much of the improvement traces back to junior J.D. Harkey, who is 28-of-56 thus far. Johns Hopkins has thrived under a two-man rotation of senior Michael Powers and junior Matt Dolente, who have combined to win 56.3 percent. But they struggled against Tigers freshman Jeff Froccaro, who won 10-of-17.