UMBC goalkeeper Andrew Hampson keeps a newspaper article from last year's NCAA tournament loss to Georgetown in his car and looks at the painful reminder every day in anticipation of Sunday's rematch with the No. 8 Hoyas.

But then he has to slam the brakes on those thoughts. That's because the No. 9 Retrievers face their biggest challenge of their entire regular season today, when they play host to No. 2 Duke at UMBC Stadium (2 p.m.).

"We would love to have a full week to prepare for both of these teams," Hampson said. "We're just going to play our style of lacrosse. We're not putting in anything special for either team."

In fact, opponents might have to devise new ways to crack UMBC's defense.

The Retrievers (3-0) have given up just one fourth-quarter goal this season and have held the opposition to 13 percent shooting (12 of 89). Much of the attention has centered on Hampson and his .806 save percentage, but his veteran defensemen have pushed teams to the perimeter and allowed mostly outside shots.

Maybe the best statistic that represents UMBC's toughness is its man-down effectiveness, where it has shut down opponents on 18 of 19 tries.

"Playing man-down is what I consider the ultimate challenge in lacrosse," UMBC coach Don Zimmerman said. "It's your five guys against the opposition's top six offensive players. This year, our guys have risen to the occasion every time."

Haugen out for Hopkins

An erratic Johns Hopkins offense will need to find consistency without its best weapon.

A.J. Haugen, a first-team All-America midfielder, will be out for Saturday's game against No. 3 Syracuse and is listed as week-to-week with a hamstring tear. Haugen said his hamstring felt sore after last Wednesday's practice, but injured it further two days later in a loss to Loyola.

"I heard it pop [early in the fourth quarter]," Haugen said. "I didn't play much after that because I could barely run."

On Friday, the Blue Jays were held to five goals -- their lowest goal total in 15 years -- and couldn't rely on the playmaking ability of Haugen, who was taken out of the equation by the Greyhounds.

Haugen was shut out for the first time in 14 games, being hounded by Loyola defensive midfielder Mike Stromberg, a Mount Hebron graduate playing in just his second collegiate game.

Lunkenheimer out

Princeton took a major hit when defenseman Kurt Lunkenheimer tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the final minute of Saturday's 6-4 loss to Virginia. Since he's a senior, Lunkenheimer will delay surgery and rehabilitate for the next six weeks in an attempt to come back in a limited role by May.

Lunkenheimer, a third-team All-America selection last year, had started every game of his career as well as Princeton's current three-year national championship run and was considered the Tigers' vocal leader on defense.

"It's a huge setback," said coach Bill Tierney, whose Tigers are 0-2. "We've been very fortunate over the years with injuries, close games and other things. Now it seems it's turning the other way. I told our guys we can do two things: We can quit and pack it in like we've been hearing or we can claw and fight back."

Hard road for Carolina

Talk about your Carolina blues.

Last week, No. 15 North Carolina lost by seven goals to previously unranked Pennsylvania and then needed a late five-goal rally to defeat Denver, a school in its second season of Division I.

Although the Tar Heels have a 4-2 record, they have to close out the season against all ranked teams, including No. 7 Princeton, No. 6 Maryland, No. 4 Johns Hopkins, No. 5 Virginia and No. 2 Duke over the next month. Once a national power, North Carolina could be facing its third straight losing season and missing the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.

The Tar Heels haven't recorded losing seasons in three consecutive seasons since 1952-54, which spurred the school to disband lacrosse as a varsity sport for 10 years.

Quotable

"All this means is that the worst we can finish is 2-10." -- Loyola coach Dave Cottle after the Greyhounds won at Homewood Field for the first time in school history, raising their record to 2-0 and increasing their regular-season winning streak to 13.

Stat of the week

Second-ranked Duke, which visits No. 9 UMBC today and plays host to No. 11 Navy on Sunday, is looking to match its best start in school history at 6-0 with victories over the Retrievers and Midshipmen. The Blue Devils have won their first four games for only the sixth time in their history and haven't been perfect after five games since 1951. A look at Duke's best starts and how the streaks ended:

Year Rec. First loss of season

1951 6-0 Virginia, 11-10

1931 5-0 Wash. & Lee, 5-3

1993 4-0 Virginia, 14-10

1972 4-0 Wittenburg, 8-6

1954 4-0 Navy, 17-3

Pub Date: 3/17/99