The University of Maryland, Baltimore County was founded in 1966, and athletic director and men's lacrosse coach Dick Watts started the first team in 1968 at the NCAA Division II level.

[2] In 1989, newly hired athletic director Charlie Brown began campaigning for upgrades to UMBC Stadium, which finally came to fruition in 1996 with funding of $2.3 million.

That year, Watts resigned as head coach and was replaced by Don Zimmerman, who had previously led Johns Hopkins to three national championships.

In 1996, an increased strength of schedule led to a 3–9 finish for the Retrievers, which included a school record 27 goals allowed against Towson State.

In 2007, UMBC upset seventh-seeded Maryland, 13–9, in the first round to advance to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals where they were eliminated by Delaware.

In 2015, the Retrievers failed to make the conference tournament for the first time since joining the America East, and a similar finish in 2016 resulted in longtime coach Don Zimmerman retiring at the end of the season .