It could have easily turned out to be brief cameo, but instead the Retrievers kept winning. They blasted tournament host and top seed Stony Brook 14-8 in the semifinals as Brett McIntyre scored four goals on four shots.
The 14-13 title game defeat of Vermont was far dicier. The Catamounts scored the first three goals and maintained a four-goal edge early in the second half. Yet UMBC uncorked a 5-0 run, and the teams traded scores from there until tournament MVP Patschorke delivered the game-winner with 66 seconds to go.
“It was a little surreal, especially the way that game played out,” Moran said. “We were down by a lot and then came back, and then we went down by a lot and then we came back. That fourth quarter was probably one of the more impressive quarters we’ve had — giving a punch, taking a punch, giving a punch and then not backing down. When that game came to a conclusion, it was super-exciting.”
It was also a welcome payoff for a program that dominated the America East a decade ago but spent the last decade chasing Albany and Stony Brook. The Retrievers have posted a winning record just once in the last 10 seasons, and they struggled to generate much offense during Moran’s first two seasons.
Injuries were a major issue in 2018, including a knee injury that ended Patschorke’s freshman year after four games. This spring, the Retrievers have averaged a healthy 11.79 goals, but injuries ravaged their defense in the preseason.
UMBC took a plug-and-play approach out of necessity, with perhaps no one as emblematic of the adjustments as junior Danny Isaac. A short-stick defensive midfielder until midway through the season, he converted to pole and then got pushed to close defense for the first time in the conference tournament and even won a couple faceoffs against Stony Brook.
Patschorke credited the program’s handling of business off the field as a precursor to its breakout over an eight-day stretch. For Moran, it’s a tangible sign his program is making progress.
“We’ve been improving a lot throughout the year, but it didn’t reflect itself in wins and losses,” Moran said. “In the last month, we’ve made some big strides both defensively and offensively and been able to stay together and stay the course. We have a great senior class, and that improvement eventually started to yield some victories.”
The Retrievers hope they’re not finished quite yet. They’ll face Metro Atlantic champion Marist (10-6) in the opening round game, with a trip to top-seeded Penn State on Sunday at stake. Less than three weeks after UMBC figured its season was probably over, it will play in its first NCAA tournament game in a decade and aim to claim a postseason victory for the first time since a 2007 defeat of Maryland.
“We’re definitely peaking at the right time,” Patschorke said. “It’s very good timing for us. It just took a little time for us to figure out who we were.”