Closed-door team meetings are so rare for UMBC that coach Don Zimmerman can recall the program's last one.
"The last time we had one of these was in 2008," he said after the Retrievers had hashed things out for nearly 50 minutes following a 13-4 loss to visiting Binghamton on Saturday. "It was the year after we had gone to the quarterfinals [of the 2007 NCAA tournament]. We had a bunch of guys coming back to the team, and I think guys thought, 'You know what? We went to the quarterfinals. We've got a bunch of guys back. It's destined to be another good year and maybe better.'
"We started off the season with two very disappointing losses. The second one was up at Rutgers [13-4], and following that game, we had the same postgame meeting. For that team, it was a turning point. We said in that locker room that we were at a juncture where we've got to decide what we want to do, who we want to be, and the level of lacrosse we want to play out on the field."
The pep talk worked. That 2008 team won 12 of its next 13 games before falling to Virginia in the NCAA tournament's first round. But the jury is still out on these Retrievers, who are one of five teams in Division I yet to score 10 goals in a game.
Zimmerman said it was good to clear the air after Saturday's loss to the America East Conference foe Bearcats. But he also said he needs to be more demanding of the players' performances in practice.
"You want to be positive with the guys, and we try to be," he said. "But I think it's more important to be honest than positive. When we've had OK practices, I've said, 'OK, that's a good one today.' We need to take our practices to a whole different level, and it really means our guys going after one another in practice. I'm not a big proponent of fighting, but at this point, guys are out there trying hard and they're mad about the game and want to get better. In a combative sport like lacrosse, when guys are checking and hitting everybody, something's got to give. Quite honestly, if I have to step in and break up a couple guys going after each other, I'll do it. I'll gladly do it."
Circling back to "Three Things to Watch" …
1) Marking Tucker Nelson. The senior attackman, Binghamton's leading scorer, was limited by Retrievers junior defenseman Zach Esser to just one goal on seven shots Saturday, and that came off a faceoff win in the first quarter. But Nelson did have three assists to boost his team-leading total in assists (14) and points (21).
"I didn't shoot great overall," Nelson said. "I hit a couple pipes. But I've always tried to be a pass-first guy and get my teammates involved. I was fortunate enough to get some guys open. They were sliding to me a little bit from behind the goal, and I was fortunate enough to find some guys on the crease, and they finished them."
2) Maximizing man-up chances. A UMBC man-up offense that had converted just 18.8 percent of its opportunities cashed in on both extra-man chances against the Bearcats, who now have surrendered nine goals in 14 short-handed situations. But the Retrievers hurt themselves with a scoring drought of 28:31 that spanned the first three quarters, and Zimmerman said the players' quick shots and turnovers didn't help.
"When we get it down, we go to the goal right away, we force something, try to get it back, and as a result, we turn the ball over," he said. "It's one thing not to get the ball on a faceoff. … We were saying, 'Let's be patient, let's work together and get one here.' We just got away from that."
3) Collecting turnovers. UMBC's No. 27 ranking in caused turnovers (7.2 per game) likely will drop after the team forced five takeaways Saturday. But the Retrievers could have had more had they been more effective in picking up ground balls. Binghamton collected 31 loose balls to UMBC's 21, and Zimmerman said the Bearcats proved they were more determined to win that battle.
"They beat us to ground balls," he said. "We put the ball on the ground, and then we didn't finish the play. They were just more aggressive than we were. You could see that in the ground balls. In this game, the ground balls are an indication of a team's aggressiveness and a team's desire to win. I think a lot of things were said in that locker room, and some things will remain in that locker room. One of the things that came out is, this team needs to demonstrate the will to win."