UMBC

Baltimore, Md.—Junior attackman Ryan Smith scored 53 seconds into overtime as top-seeded UMBC survived a major scare from fourth-seeded Binghamton and edged the Bearcats, 6-5, to advance to the America East Conference championship game.

The Retrievers, winners of 10 straight, will meet second-seeded Albany (8-7) for the title on Saturday. The Great Danes advanced with an earlier 12-9 victory over No. 3 Stony Brook. The two teams will meet for the third straight year in the title game with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at stake.

UMBC never led until the overtime winner. Binghamton’s Steve Carlson scored 3:11 into the fourth quarter to give the visitors a 5-2 lead. But sophomore midfielder Kyle Wimer started the rally with an unassisted goal at the 5:30 mark and Smith trimmed the deficit to 5-4 just 73 seconds later. UMBC continued to attack the net, and senior midfielder Terry Kimener finally broke his goal-scoring drought at the 8:39 mark by converting on a second rebound of his own shot and a follow-up by Maxx Davis.

Smith had the ball at the end of regulation, but had it checked away as he charged towards the goal with 10 seconds remaining. In overtime, after senior Taylor Marino won his eighth draw (of 13) of the night, UMBC called time-out and Smith came around to goalie Larry Kline’s right. Kline got a leg on the bounding shot, but the ball trickled behind him for the game-winning score.

Smith and Wimer each had two goals for UMBC, while Kimener kept his multiple-point streak alive at 12 in a row with a goal and an assist. Carlson led Binghamton (4-8) with two goals.

UMBC outshot BU, 38-16, but Kline rejected 11 shots and the Retrievers misfired on 21 attempts. Retriever senior netminder Jeremy Blevins made nine saves for the hosts and improved to 31-14 in his career.

The Retrievers are now 3-0 in overtime this season and have won six straight in extra time over the past two seasons. The 11 wins for the 2008 squad ties the 1999 and 2007 squads for most Division I victories by a Retriever team.

UMBC defeated Albany, 19-10 in the 2006 title game, while the Great Danes won a 15-14 decision in Albany last season. The Retrievers won the regular season match-up with Albany, 14-10 on April 12.