UMBC Sports Blog

After what the athletic program did last year there is no doubt that this year was a little disappointing. Only two conference championships and those were by the men’s swimming and diving team and the men’s lacrosse team, which were just about shoe ins for the titles. A lot of teams had high expectations for this season. The volleyball team, men’s soccer team, men’s basketball team, softball…the list goes on and on but none could capture a crown for UMBC. But this does not mean the year was a total bust. When looking at the silver lining of the season if was pretty good.

First congratulations for the men’s lacrosse team and swimming and diving team for winning again. For the swimming and diving that makes 12 straight league titles. Talk about a dynasty, that’s just unreal. Justin Bronson was phenomenal and surpassed all expectations for this season. He was expected to be a force but he just made it all look easy. He barely missed making the Canadian Olympic team over the summer but I’d like to bet that he’ll make it the next time around. But he’ll be gone next year and sorely missed but the team has plenty more talent, including super sophomore Brad Reitz who showed why he was named freshman of the year last year with an amazing season this year.

The men’s lacrosse team went through some ups and downs but once again failed to disappoint. Jeremy Blevins showed why he was the winningest active goalie in the country with a POY award but there was a lot more on the team than him. Ohio State transfer Peet Poillon just dominated and Alex Hopmann, what can I say about him. He is the all-time goal scorer at UMBC for a reason, and talk about clutch. He’s never scored less than two goals in a championship game. The lacrosse team is going to lose a lot of talent, but any time Don Zimmerman is coaching a team you know they will be in contention to a national championship.

In all honesty the best story was the men’s basketball team. Last year they made it to their first NCAA tournament. While they did miss it this year they just showed heart. Darryl Proctor and Jay Greene very well may be the two best players in UMBC basketball history and will be forever missed. The team did have a losing record this year and finished sixth in the conference, but it was still a great year. The team was riddled with injuries, three guys quit to limit the bench, but through it all when the games counted they got it done, sending them to their second straight conference championship game, coming up just short of the NCAA tournament. With Proctor and Greene gone there are serious voids, but Chauncey Gilliam shined light on the future. He has all the making of a POY in the conference and will be the go to guy on the team next year. He can dunk, he’s quick, he had good ball control, and his three point shot really came around last season. He has to work on his defense, but at this level nobody is perfect, plus he was just a freshman. Don’t think because Proctor and Greene are gone the team is going to be bad next year. Chris De La Rosa could have started at Siena if it wasn’t for Kenny Hasbrook. But he transferred to UMBC and should be fine at the point. Then there is Robbie Jackson, the AEC has never scene a guy 7′2″ 300+ that is any good. With size next to Fry’s defensive ability is going to be hard to score on next year.

Volleyball made great strides this year. A lot of people expected a championship but they did have some youth. But that youth was great, just not in the tournament. Alyssa Lang and Allie Spaay are the future and owned the rookie of the week awards, but most everybody is back next year and they could be in contention once again.

Women’s basketball very well may win the conference next year. Inexperience hurt them on the road but everybody return next year. Michelle Kurowski, Erin Brown, Katie Brooks, and Tope Obajolu are going to be great and with Michele Brokans, Carlee Cassidy, Megan Colabella, and Melissa Book all returning the experience, look out. The year worked wonders for everybody and while they struggled down the stretch, they showed a promising future.

Softball is another team that will return just about everybody. Stephanie Weigman had a monster season. Twenty wins for anybody is just insane, and she’s only a sophomore and owns the all-time strikeout record. They really made great strides this year and will once again be in contention next year. Look out.

Women’s lacrosse s another team that is going to be in contention next year. They were just one game away from making the conference tournament after a great season. They lose a lot but the younger players played well above a freshman level.

Men’s soccer was the most disappointing team this year. They were legitimate title contenders in the beginning of the year but finished in last place. It’s hard to tell is they will contend next year but the reason for the loosing was inexperience and injuries. No matter how good those seniors were it’s hard to win with that much inexperience. They will bring in a great freshman class that looks to be better than the guys on the team already, but once again, youth hurts.

I know I’m not going over all the teams but I will mention baseball. Much like soccer, inexperience killed them, but the future looks bright. Max Himmelstein, Jusitn Lamborn, Rich Conlon, Austin Drewyer, and David Divita will all be great players in the conference in two years, the only thing is they have to get their and get the rest of the team to be good or average.