UMBC

, Md.—Junior attackman Ryan Smith scored a career high five goals and added three assists as ninth-ranked UMBC (8-3, 3-0) won its seventh straight game, a 14-10 decision over rival Albany (5-6, 2-1) in a crucial America East Conference contest.

The winning streak for UMBC is its longest since a school Division I high eight straight wins in 1999. The Retrievers have already sewn up a berth in the four-team America East Tournament and a win over Hartford at home next Saturday would ensure the Retrievers of home field advantage in the tournament.

The Retrievers scored six unanswered goals over a 13 minute span in the second half to snap an eight-all tie and open up a 14-8 advantage with 5:47 remaining in the game. UMBC led, 8-5 at intermission, but the Great Danes took advantage of a man-up opportunity to start the half and Nate Sullivan scored an extra-man goal just 49 seconds into the frame. Albany struck for two more goals and tied the score at eight all on a Tyler Endres score with 10:54 to play in the quarter.

But UMBC stemmed the tide and took the lead for good when senior midfielder Terry Kimener took a Kyle Wimer feed and scored from inside with 7:35 to play in the period. Then Smith went to work, scoring an unassisted goal on a dash from behind the net with 2:57 remaining. He was then the beneficiary of a brilliant steal on a broken Albany clear by sophomore attackman Matt Latham. Latham fed Smith who scored with Albany netminder Brett Queener out of the cage with 39 seconds to play in the third quarter.

UMBC sophomore midfielder Maxx Davis took advantage of a screened Queener and converted a feed from behind the net from Smith with just one second to play in the third quarter. With UMBC leading 10-6 at that point, game officials saw lightning in the distance and suspended play at 9:00 p.m. for 35 minutes.

When the teams returned, UMBC sophomore long-stick middie Mike Camardo finished on a fast break from Smith at the 11:21 mark of the fourth quarter and Latham capped the 6-0 run as Albany tried to double the ball behind the net and the Retriever attackman took a Smith feed from right in front of the net.

Kimener and Latham had two goals and two assists each for UMBC, while Wimer added a goal and two helpers. Brian Caufield led Albany with three goals and two assists, and senior attackman Corey Small had two and two.

The statistical battles were fairly even, except that Albany failed to clear on eight of 19 attempts. Queener had nine saves for Albany, while UMBC netminder Jeremy Blevins made 11 saves and allowed the first eight UA goals in over 57 minutes of action.

Notes: UMBC now leads the overall series, 5-3, breaking a two-game Albany winning streak… the Retrievers have won ten straight at home, the nation’s second longest home winning streak behind Duke’s 17 in a row…UMBC has also won ten straight America East home games and is 21-4 all-time in league play… the eight points by Smith is the most by a Retriever this year… Kimener has 122 career points and is now UMBC’s second all-time leading midfield scorer