UMBC's midfield depth in flux
UMBC is still waiting to see whether Jamie Kimbles will return for the first time since fall workouts.
The senior midfielder, who registered 12 goals and nine assists last spring, was supposed to anchor a fledgling unit, but he has missed the entire preseason with a hamstring injury, according to coach Don Zimmerman.
Kimbles sat out the team’s season-opening 16-10 victory over Presbyterian on Saturday, and it’s unclear whether he will be able to suit up for the home opener against Rutgers.
“We’re hoping to get him back to practice this week,” Zimmerman said Monday. “Whether or not he’ll be ready to play on Saturday, that has yet to be determined. But he’s back, and he’s doing some stickwork drills. He has improved, and we’re just waiting for the right time to get him back and going at 100 percent.”
The Retrievers are not nearly as optimistic about freshman midfielder Zach Linkous, who sprained his ankle Saturday. Zimmerman characterized Linkous’ status against the Scarlet Knights as “doubtful.”
“I don’t think it’s broken,” Zimmerman said. “He definitely sprained it. I know he’s getting it X-rayed. So I have yet to hear exactly what it is, but right now, I’m thinking that it’s a sprain.”
Kimbles’ absence has had a somewhat unexpected benefit in that it has allowed sophomores Dave Brown, Scott Jones and Scott Hopmann to run the first midfield, and that trio combined for 11 goals and four assists against the Blue Hose.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Zimmerman said. “If a guy goes down, somebody’s got to step up. It’s like being a backup quarterback. You don’t get many snaps, but if the starter goes down, you’ve got to be ready, and I think that’s been the case with this year’s team. Losing a bunch of seniors who had playing roles opened the door for a lot of young guys to get out there and prove themselves, and this is just another example.”
Other notes:
*Junior goalkeeper Brian McCullough made six saves in his debut as the full-time starter. He made his fair share of mistakes, but Zimmerman was pleased with what he saw. “I think he held his own,” Zimmerman said. “If you look at the stats, his save percentage wasn’t that impressive, but there were some goals that we gave up that I don’t think anybody could have saved. And the whole team didn’t play well in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, he stepped up along with the rest of the team and made some critical saves to shut them down, and we were pleased with that. There’s plenty of room – for Brian or anybody on our team – for improvement. We’re going to continue to focus on getting better as a lacrosse team, but I think it was important that Brian went out there and was challenged. He held on and bounced back strong in the fourth quarter to get the win.”
*UMBC won 25-of-29 faceoffs with senior J.D. Harkey going 13-of-15 and sophomore Joseph Impallaria winning 12-of-14. Presbyterian is still experimenting with its faceoff unit, but Zimmerman said Harkey and Impallaria fared well. “I thought they both did very well,” Zimmerman said. “… But also, I think our wings did a great job. [Sophomore midfielder] Neill Lewnes had [six] ground balls and was scrappy on the wings – as well as [sophomore long-stick midfielder] Ethan Murphy. We’ve always said that faceoffs are a three-man game, and I was certainly pleased with the job that J.D. and Joe did, but also with the job that our wings did.”
*A youthful Retrievers squad that features just three seniors and eight juniors relished Saturday’s win and could gain a much-needed boost to its self-esteem. “That’s going to give us some confidence, but we’ve got to keep it in perspective,” Zimmerman cautioned. “It was our first game, and today’s Monday, and what we need to do is come out and use the weekend to our advantage and be a better team than we were on Saturday.”
