UPDATED: A pair of UMBC starters nursing injuries -- and an apology
Prior to UMBC’s 10-9 win against visiting Towson on Wednesday night, I posted a blog noting that a few usual starters had been replaced. For redshirt freshman attackman Matt Gregoire and sophomore midfielder Scott Hopmann, there was a good reason.
Both Gregoire and Hopmann are dealing with injuries, according to a team spokesman. Gregoire suffered an eye injury when a teammate’s stick accidentally poked through the grill of his helmet during practice on Monday. Hopmann injured his hamstring in the team’s 16-5 loss to No. 10 Stony Brook last Friday night.
Of the two, Hopmann’s is considered the less serious, and he is considered questionable for Saturday’s home contest against Binghamton.
In an email to me Thursday morning, Michael Gregoire, the father of Matt Gregoire, wrote that his son “may have permanent damage to his vision as a result of the injury.” Gregoire questioned my choice of words in saying that his son had been “benched.”
He’s right. I should’ve used better judgment in light of the lack of disclosure about these injuries. My apologies to the Gregoire and Hopmann families.
UPDATE: Retrievers coach Don Zimmerman said the school’s medical staff is closely monitoring Gregoire’s eye. Zimmerman said he was uncertain whether the injury was of the season-ending variety.
“Like I said, they’re taking it day by day,” he said. “I think he’s had some swelling back there, and that’s certainly something that we have to be very, very conservative with.”
Zimmerman, who said the team is also preparing as if Hopmann won’t be available for Saturday, said the program won’t try to accelerate their return.
“We’re never going to rush kids back,” Zimmerman said. “So what you do is you prepare as if they can’t play, and if they can, that’s a bonus.”
Unlike Gregoire and Hopmann, junior attackman Rob Grimm was not removed from the starting lineup due to injury. Zimmerman said Grimm had been struggling with turnovers and the coaches wanted to impress upon him the importance of protecting the ball.
“We’ve been emphasizing that we’ve got to take care of the ball,” Zimmerman said. “I just felt that [freshman] Ryan Johnston has been coming on and playing well and just felt like it would be a good opportunity to give Ryan a look and hold Rob. Rob played a lot for us and had a good game. Sometimes to sit a kid and have him come off the bench the way Rob did is beneficial, and I think last night, it worked pretty well.”
Zimmerman praised Grimm for accepting the demotion without complaint.
“Rob received a game ball not only for his performance, but also for his attitude,” Zimmerman said. “Here’s a kid who had been starting and all of sudden, didn’t start. He handled it very, very well. He didn’t complain. He was out there and supporting the guys that were starting. … That’s what it’s all about – attitude. Attitude is everything, and I thought Rob handled that situation both on the field as well as personally.”
