Is UMBC the sixth-best men's lacrosse team in the country?

Don't know about that.

Do the Retrievers have the goods to make it back to the quarterfinals next month? Absolutely.

UMBC was the beneficiary of a lot of losses by other teams in this week's Inside Lacrosse poll, and a leap to No. 6 seems like it's a bit much. But after seeing the Retrievers take out Albany on Saturday night, it's pretty clear they have the pieces to make some noise in the tournament.

The 14-10 victory was UMBC's seventh straight win. A 1-3 start featured blowout losses to Delaware and Rutgers, as well as a grind-it-out setback at Johns Hopkins. Perhaps people should have read more into that result; the Retrievers looked a lot better than a 1-3 team that night at Homewood, and Hopkins looked awfully vulnerable --- and proceeded to lose five straight.

There are three excellent reasons for the Retrievers to continue to blow through the America East and lock up their third straight NCAA berth:

* Terry Kimener. The senior is an old-school midfielder who ranks second for UMBC in both goals (20) and caused turnovers (seven). He's also got a team-high 16 assists. Kimener isn't the sort of bulky midfielder that will force people to pay attention, but he does everything well and is deserving of All-America consideration.

* Ryan Smith. The junior college transfer tossed in five goals and three assists on Saturday, and it's pretty obvious he's adapted quite nicely to Division I. UMBC lost its entire starting attack after last season --- all 112 goals --- and Smith's emergence has ensured the Retrievers would have an offensive pulse late this season.

* Jeremy Blevins. UMBC lists the junior goalie at 135 pounds, and while numbers aren't wowing (9.21 goals against, .541 save percentage), they're right in line with his career totals and are far more of an asset than an obstacle. The Retrievers know what they're going to get in goal, and that's more than a lot of other teams can say at this juncture.

None of that can completely prevent UMBC from being derailed. To wit:

* Startling stat No. 1: A faceoff winning percentage of .463, 39th out of 56 teams in the country

* Startling stat No. 2: A scoring margin of +0.18, 30th in the country

* Startling stat No. 3: Man-up (38th) and man-down (39th) units nestled in the bottom third in the country

All that means is the Retrievers don't have as much of a cushion as might be expected out of an 8-3 team. But it's still a bunch that has defeated Denver, Maryland and Ohio State, hung tough with Johns Hopkins and could take an 11-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament if things break right the rest of the way.

They might not really be No. 6. But they're way too good to ignore.

--- Patrick Stevens