No quit in UMBC
The 2011 season has been a humbling campaign for UMBC, which is coming off the heels of a 16-5 rout at the hands of America East rival and No. 10 Stony Brook on Friday night.
The Retrievers, which once dominated the conference to the tune of three championships in four years, is now 2-5 overall and 0-1 in the America East. But coach Don Zimmerman said he has sensed no quit among the players.
“Absolutely not,” he said Monday. “I think they’re good kids, and they’re hard workers, and they realize that we are young, and it’s going to take time to develop. We’re staying positive, and to their credit, they’re coming out and despite losing a tough game on Friday night, they came out on Sunday [for practice] and had a good go. I think it’s a testament to their character and attitude.”
Losing to the Seawolves, once a popular candidate to make the Final Four next month, isn’t too shabby, but UMBC faltered badly, taking just one shot, winning just one faceoff, and collecting just six ground balls in the first half en route to an 11-0 deficit at intermission.
The manner in which the Retrievers lost surprised Zimmerman.
“We’re disappointed in the outcome of Friday’s game,” he said. “I thought we had a good week of practice. We went up there, and Stony Brook was just a very, very good lacrosse team that night. Now we’re back, and we don’t have a whole lot of time to prepare for Towson [on Wednesday night]. Guys came out [Sunday] night and had a good practice, which is good. Now we’re getting ready for the Tigers.”
