UMBC will open the season at No. 6 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, marking the earliest start for the program by eight days. But it was a necessary concession, coach Don Zimmerman said Thursday morning.
"We wanted to maintain our relationship with Hopkins and with them going to the Big Ten, they had to make some schedule changes," he said. "[Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala] and I talked and agreed that we wanted to play, and this was the one time we could do it. So we agreed we would start our seasons a week earlier."
The early beginning might seem unappealing as coaches are still refining their schemes and making decisions about their starting lineups. But Zimmerman said the Retrievers are eager to play games.
"This will be a month [since practice began], and I think a month is a good amount of time," he said. "I think sometimes if you wait an extra week, guys start to get itchy. They need to get started. If we weren't playing the game, we'd be playing a scrimmage. So we're playing."
UMBC has 14 games in the regular season, so Zimmerman emphasized that a win or a loss Saturday won't decide anything about the team's year.
"It's the first game, and obviously, it's a big game. Whenever you play Johns Hopkins, it's a big game," he said. "But we also have to remember that we have a long season ahead of us. So you kind of have a short-term goal and a long-term goal. The short-term goal is you want your guys ready go in that first game, but you understand that we're not going to be in midseason form. We just want to go out there and do our best and execute and do the things that we've practiced. Our staff understands that this is our first game, and we have to be patient because it takes time to get where we eventually want to be."