Switch leads to upset win for laxers

By CARLA MOTKO
Collegian Staff Writer

With two of the top lacrosse players in the nation -- goalie Andrew Hampson and attacker Chris Turner -- manning its roster, the No. 9 Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) men's lacrosse team probably should not have lost to No. 13 Penn State.

But it did, giving plenty of reasons for the upset loss.

One reason was that the Retrievers (3-3) had injuries, another was that their top players had an off game. But the Nittany Lions (4-1) said the main reasons for their 11-9 victory against the Retrievers Saturday at UMBC were Penn State defenseman Hamilton Pollard and attacker Chris Schiller.

"After we beat them, (Penn State) coach (Glenn) Thiel said they'd be making all kinds of excuses for losing, saying they weren't having a good game," Pollard said. "But it just reiterates the way we started the season and that we deserve to be a top-10 team."

Not only will the win more than likely boost the Lions to a higher spot in the poll and drop UMBC out of the top 10, it also gives Penn State a better chance at a position in the postseason tournament.

But early in the first quarter of the game, it looked more like UMBC would be getting that bye to the playoffs when the Retrievers took a 2-0 lead within the first minute and quickly extended it to 3-0.

The quick offensive spurt put the Lions on their heels. Throughout the first quarter, Penn State's offense was dormant and the defense was doing its best to keep the team's deficit minimal.

However, the change in quarters was the wakeup call for the Lions. The defense held the Retrievers' top scoring tandem of Turner and attacker/midfielder Dan Marohl at bay while the offense, led by Schiller, put together a scoring run that tied the game, 6-6. The score remained that way through the half.

A small switch in Penn State's coverage was responsible for keeping UMBC's offense under wraps for much of the second quarter. Defenseman Andrew Germain, who had two years of experience covering Turner, couldn't seem to stay on the Retrievers' top scorer, so Thiel made an advised move putting Pollard in Turner's line of fire. Germain was moved to cover Marohl.

"I throw a lot of checks and I don't think (Turner) was expecting that," Pollard said. "I took him off his game and then the rest of the defense took over."

The Penn State defense allowed just three goals the rest of the game, all of which came in the third period. Those three goals put Penn State down 9-6 late in the third quarter, but Penn State had already come back from a three-goal deficit earlier in the game and proved it could do so again.

The Retrievers' scoring frustrations opened up small holes in their defense, allowing Penn State to come back and tie the game at 9-9.

Schiller, who ended the night with three goals and two assists, broke the stalemate. Within minutes, attacker Todd Kaiser scored a man-up goal to extend the lead to 11-9. After a stellar game, the defense shut out UMBC in the fourth quarter to end the game.

Although Penn State was a considerable underdog for the game, that is not the way it felt through the game. The fact that Penn State had beaten UMBC in the teams' previous 12 meetings plus the game's playoff implications made the Lions confident of a win.

"We knew going in we couldn't feel like the underdogs," Kaiser said. "We needed this win to have breathing room for the next few games, and the win is going to be pivotal for the tournament."