UMBC Lacrosse Schedule: Smoke

PROGRAM SCHEDULE PROPAGANDA: PRESS RELEASE
THIS IS WHY WE FIGHT: THE SCHEDULE

Here are some schedule highlights and games of note:

Smoke
February 21: at Monmouth; February 28: at Richmond; March 14: Binghamton; March 24: Mount St. Mary's; March 27: Lafayette; April 4: at Hartford; April 11: Vermont; April 18: Massachusetts-Lowell

UMBC is 30-39 over the last five seasons, a middling record for a program that has held an average ranking of 41st in LaxPower's year-end rankings over the same period. Things have slowed for the Retrievers since making four straight NCAA Tournament appearances between 2006 and 2009, and nothing illustrates that fact more than this: UMBC owns one win -- against Maryland in 2012 -- against an opponent that closed the year with a winning record and finished the season ranked in the top half of LaxPower's ratings. Let's be clear about this: In 69 games, the Retrievers have beaten one team considered at or above average and won more games than it lost. The residue of this, of course, is that UMBC's 30 victories since 2010 have come against a mish-mash of "meh" competition:

• The average record of an opponent that the Retrievers have beaten since 2010 in 5-10 with an average LaxPower ranking of 45th nationally.
• UMBC has beaten five teams -- Mercer in 2014; Hartford in 2013; Rutgers and Maryland in 2012; and Quinnipiac in 2011 -- that finished the year with at least a .500 record (only the Terps were above the .500 mark). The average LaxPower ranking of these teams is 39th, significantly buoyed by Maryland's high position in 2012.
• UMBC has beaten one team -- Towson in 2011 -- that finished the year with a sub-.500 record but was in the top half of LaxPower's rankings (30th nationally).
• Over half -- 17, to be exact -- of UMBC's 30 wins in the last five seasons have come against opponents that finished the season with a winning percentage of under 40.00 percent. The average LaxPower ranking of these opponents is 50th. The team's 13 remaining victories have come against opponents with an average winning percentage of 45.89 percent and an average LaxPower ranking of 39th.

Looking at the team's 2015 regular season schedule, eight games stand out as potential wins based on UMBC's recent victory profile, dates against opponents that finished 2014 ranked 45th or worse in LaxPower's year-end ratings and with a record at or below .500. That would guarantee a winning record for the Retrievers, but a somewhat hollow one.

Royale
March 21: at Stony Brook; April 25: at Albany

Three teams -- UMBC, Albany, and Stony Brook -- can claim a winning America East record over the last five seasons. UMBC has struggled to consistently attack the Seawolves and Great Danes, though, holding a 5-9 combined record against those league rivals and averaging a three-goal defeat at the hands of each team. Knocking around Vermont, Binghamton, Hartford, and Massachusetts-Lowell is important, but failing to eat the souls of the league's strongest teams has somewhat capped the Retrievers ceiling in recent years.