MEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOK
The Vermont Catamounts host the UMBC Retrievers tomorrow night in the first men's lacrosse game under the lights at Virtue Field since 2016. The Senior Night game is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
 
RELATED LINKS
Video | Live Stats | Tickets
 
SENIOR NIGHT
The eight members of the Class of 2018 will be honored prior to the game against UMBC. Carson Armstrong, Graham Bocklet, Zack Bucci, Matt Burke, Matt Gudas, James Leary, Ian MacKay, and Connor Van Ryn will graduate in May.
 
SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS
UMBC enters Friday's regular season finale with a 5-7 overall record and 3-2 mark in America East play. The Retrievers have won three straight games, beating then-No. 1 Albany before knocking off Binghamton and Hartford.
 
UMBC comes off of two extremely low-scoring contests, beating Binghamton by a 5-2 final and then beating Hartford by an 8-3 final.  UMBC is tied for second in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 7.67 goals per game. On offense, UMBC possesses the 69th-ranked scoring offense with 6.92 goals per game. UMBC has only scored more than 10 goals once, with 11 goals in its win over Albany.
 
Freshman goalie Thomas Lingner has appeared in 10 games and has made nine starts for the Retrievers. He holds a 5-5 overall record and has started the last five games. Lingner is 12th in the NCAA and fourth in the AE in save percentage (.552); second in the NCAA and first in the AE in GAA (7.16); fourth in the AE with 8.50 saves/game.
 
Junior Billy Nolan leads the team in goals (17), assists (11), and points (28). Steven Zichelli (23) is second on the team in points. Three other Retrievers have recorded at least 10 points on the season.

INSIDE THE SERIES
Friday's contest is the 15th all-time meeting between the Catamounts and Retrievers. UMBC holds a 12-2 all-time record over the Catamounts but Vermont is looking for its third win in the past four years over the Retrievers.
 
VIRGINIA RECAP
Vermont took a 9-8 lead into the fourth quarter but could not find the back of the net in the final 15 as Virginia scored a pair in the final 2:30 to take a 10-9 win. The 13th-ranked Cavaliers took the victory in front of over 3,200 fans in the first-ever IMCLA Game of the Week in New Canaan, Connecticut.
 
Nick Washuta recorded a career-high 19 saves in the loss. Greenwich, Connecticut native Jack Knight scored a pair of third quarter goals to give UVM its first lead of the game.
 
BIG WEEK FOR MACKAY
Earlier on Thursday (April 26), MacKay was the first Catamount ever named a finalist for the prestigious Tewaaraton Award. Just the second Cat named to the initial Tewaaraton Watch List, MacKay is the first to earn a spot among the 25 finalists.
 
Last Wednesday (April 18), MacKay became the first Catamount since A.J. Masson '13 to be drafted by a professional lacrosse organization.
 
MacKay was chosen 13th overall by the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft last Wednesday night. MacKay joins assistant coach Jake Bernhardt's brother, Jesse, on the Bayhawks.
 
CLASS OF 2018 MAKES HISTORY
The senior class recorded its 30th win over Division I opponents on Saturday, April 7 against UMass Lowell. With the victory, the Class of 2018 passed the Class of 1994 for the most career wins against DI opponents in program history.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Catamounts are looking to go undefeated at home for the first time since 1994, when they went 5-0. With a win over UMBC, UVM will go a perfect 4-0 at Virtue Field, with wins over Sacred Heart, Binghamton, and UMass Lowell.
 
In 1994, the Cats defeated Colgate, Hartford, Middlebury, St. John's, and New Hampshire at Centennial Field to go undefeated.
 
WASHUTA IN THE NCAA
The sophomore goalie sits second in the NCAA and first in the America East with a .605 save percentage. His 7.65 goals against average is fourth in the country and third in the conference. He is tied for 16th in the NCAA and second in the conference with 11.08 saves per game.
 
In the Catamount record book, Washuta became just the fifth Catamount goalie to record 10 wins in a season. With one more win, Washuta will set the program record for most wins in a season. The sophomore is tied with Adam Tischler '97 for sixth most career wins in program history with 14.
 
Additionally, Washuta is looking to become just the 10th Catamount goalie to ever finish a season stopping over 60% of shots faced. He would be the first Cat to reach the milestone since Mike Gabel led the nation in 2003 (.665) and just the third Cat since 1995 to accomplish the feat.
 
VERMONT IN THE NCAA
The Catamounts possess the ninth-ranked scoring defense in the nation, allowing only 8.08 goals per game. On the other side of the field, the Catamount offense is 27th-nationally, scoring 11.08 goals per game. Vermont's scoring margin is tied for ninth in the country at 3.00 goals/game.
 
TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS
Vermont has clinched an America East tournament spot for the third time in four years. Vermont will take the third seed with a win and the fourth seed with a loss.
 
UMBC is playing for their lives tonight in Burlington, Vermont. With a win, the Retrievers will finish the season with a 4-2 America East mark and earn the third seed in next weekend's conference tournament. With a loss, UMBC's season will end with a 3-3 conference mark with the tie-breaker for the fourth and final spot going to UMass Lowell.
 
EARNING THE (CANADIAN) BACON
Five of Vermont's top-six scorers all hail from north of the border, and more specifically, Ontario. MacKay leads the team with 48 points and hails from Port Elgin. Rob Hudson (Oakville) is second on the team with 31 points. Toronto native Liam Limoges (28) is third on the team and the lone American, Dawes Milchling, is fourth with 27 points. Ben French (Toronto) is fifth with 25 points and Braiden Davis is sixth on the team with 25 points.
 
WHO WEARS THE HATS?
UVM has 14 hat tricks from five different players through 13 games this season. MacKay has accounted for five while Limoges and French each have three hat tricks. Hudson has a pair of hat tricks while Davis has a single three-goal game.
 
Six different Catamounts accounted for 14 hat tricks over the course of the 2017 season.  
 
NEXT UP
Vermont competes in the semifinal round of the America East Tournament next Thursday (May 3). The game will be played at the top-seeded team's campus, determined after this weekend's final games.
 
NFP is the presenting sponsor for the 2018 men's lacrosse season