1/23/2012 11:15 PM 

UMBC broke training camp in early September with 23 skaters and 3 goaltenders on the roster; heading into a possible division clinching weekend on the road down south, they had 13 skaters and 3 goaltenders. As they say, "the show must go on", and the Retrievers did so in impressive championship fashion this weekend in southwest Virginia.

Friday night, the Retrievers arrived in Roanoke, VA to face the pesky and dangerous Virginia Tech Hokies, currently ranked #7 in the ACHA Southeast Region ranking. In front of a hostile crowd at the Roanoke Civic Center, the visitors took little time to take the locals out of the game. Just 29 seconds after the opening face-off, Colin Devlyn (Highlands Ranch, CO) kept the puck in at the point and dished it off to fellow Freshman Matt Bloom (Ellicott City, MD) who beat the Virginia Tech goaltender with a shot from the high slot to give UMBC an early 1-0 lead. The rest of the period went by quietly and UMBC went into the locker room with the one goal advantage.

The second period saw an increase in physical play, and in turn more penalties. While on the power play Erik Becker (Crofton, MD) took a shot from the point that eluded legs and sticks in front and found its way into the back of the net. However the goal would be disallowed as Justin Stewart (Philadelphia, PA) was deemed to be in the crease. Virginia Tech would kill of that penalty and two other UMBC power plays to gain some momentum. That momentum reached new height when an attempted clear took a bad bounce off the zamboni door behind the net and wound up on the tape of a Virginia Tech player in the slot. The ensuing shot beat goaltender Jon Drago (Guttenburg, NJ) and tied the game at one. The score would remained tied until the end of the period.

As play began in the third period, the hitting picked up further. However the Hokies began to play over aggressive at times and UMBC found itself on a 5 on 3 power play for 1:40. UMBC had not scored on their previous four opportunities in the game, and had to come up big in a clutch situation. Just eighteen seconds into the two-man advantage Stewart took the puck from the corner and patiently walked along the goal line towards the net. The Virginia Tech goaltender began to anticipate the pass, leaving the short-side open enough for Stewart to find the net, giving UMBC a 2-1 lead. Still with 1:42 of a 5 on 4 power play remaining, UMBC set up the power play again; and with Stewart back in his traditional position in front of the net, the puck found it way back onto Becker's stick. Becker proceeded to unload a slap shot that first hit the post, then the crossbar, before finding it way into the back of the net. This goal would count giving the Retrievers two power play goals just 23 seconds apart and a 3-1 lead.

Virginia Tech continued to push forward, and pushed hard. The Hokies took 19 third period shots, more than doubling their total from the first 40 minutes. The Hokies took a rush down the ice and a backhand from 15 feet out beat Drago on the short side with 9 minutes remaining to cut the lead in half. From there the defense, led by Drago, shut the door. The penalty kill extended their streak to 47 consecutive power plays against without allowing a goal by staving off a 5 on 3 advantage for Virginia Tech in the final minutes, sealing a 3-2 Retriever win.

With Friday night in the books UMBC traveled north on Saturday for a primetime matchup with #5 ranked Liberty, needing only one point to wrap up another regular season division championship. The arena was smaller, the crowd was smaller but the game was just as intense, and the crowd was just as hostile.

The opening period saw some quality chances on both sides and good goaltender play. The game was fast paced and physical. Liberty controlled play for the most part as the short bench for UMBC showed its effects. The Retrievers were doubled up on shots in the frame 16-8 but some quality saves by Drago kept the contest scoreless after one period.

The middle stanza saw UMBC begin to find their second wind. Just 5 minutes into the period Sophomore Brandon Fritz (Walled Lake, MI) put a pass from behind the net out front to Captain Nik Jost (Grosse Point Park, MI) who ripped twine to give UMBC a hard earned 1-0 lead. The period stayed pretty even, but all streaks eventually come to an end. After the penalty kill streak reached 50 consecutive kills in the first period, a hooking penalty assesed to Stewart put a lethal Flames power play on the ice for the fourth time on the night. A long shot from the point missed the net, but the puck careemed back to the side of the net off the end boards and was put behind Drago to tie the game at 1.  The goal was the first power play goal allowed by UMBC since November 5 vs Delaware, a streak that lasted nearly 800 minutes of playing time (798:17). Liberty reasserted themselves as the period dragged on, hemming UMBC in their own end for extended periods of time. As the clocked waned into the final minute of the period, a scramble in the defensive zone led to a Liberty player finding a loose puck in the slot and beating Drago to give Liberty a 2-1 edge heading into the third period.

Before the third period began, Head Coach Aaron Voegtli stole a quote from Rocky to use in his speech between periods; "it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward". And boy did it work, UMBC held Liberty without a shot for the opening eleven minutes of the third period and outshot them 19-3 over the course of the period. But with five minutes remaining in the game and two unconverted power play opportunities later, the Retrievers still found themselves trailing by a goal and facing a penalty kill. As UMBC has done over 91% of the time this year, they killed off the penalty and went back on the offensive. And with just over two minutes left in the game, the breakthrough finally came. Dan Durantaye (Ellicott City, MD) recieved a pass from Devlyn in the slot and beat the Liberty netminder through a screen, sending the bench into jubilation with only 2:08 seperating the team from its third consecutive regular season division title.

As regulation was coming to an end however, Sean O'Connor (Stony Point, NY) was assesed a minor penalty for tripping and the UMBC pk would be called on once again. The final seconds ticked off the clock and the horn sounded ending the third period, UMBC was regular season champs again, but with 1:24 left in O'Connor's penalty; there was still work to be done to pull out a victory.

As overtime started UMBC was able to keep the Liberty power play from setting up and cleared the puck down the ice to kill time off the penalty. While on the fore-check though, Bloom lost an edge and Liberty came up the ice on an odd man rush with Bloom trailing far behind the play. Jost stepped up at the blue line to break up the rush and the puck came to Stewart who looked up and saw Bloom alone behind the Liberty defense. Without hesitation, Stewart fired the puck off the wall for Bloom to catch in stride and on a breakaway against the Liberty keeper. Bloom made a quick move across the net mouth and lifted the puck into the gaping net for the shorthanded game-winning goal. The UMBC bench cleared in a matter of seconds as they stormed the ice to celebrate the goal, and the championship.

UMBC improved to 17-5-2 on the year and finished their conference schedule with a perfect 7-0-0 record. The Retrievers have now won four games in a row after dropping 4 of their previous 7. The power play now sits at 26.9% (29/108) effective on the year and the penalty kills boasts a 91.1% (112/123) effectiveness. UMBC next travels to Newark, DE to take on the Deleaware Blue Hens, a team which the Retrievers defeated 10-4 back in November at Reisterstown.