UMBC

Sophomore fullback Marcus Gross scored his second consecutive first half goal and UMBC tacked on two quick early second half scores to outlast New Hampshire, 3-1, in an America East Conference contest.

With the win, UMBC (8-1-5, 4-0-3 AEC) extended its unbeaten streak to seven and remained undefeated in America East play. New Hampshire dropped its fourth straight to fall to 6-7 overall and 1-4 in conference.

Gross, who scored the lone goal in UMBC’s 1-0 over Stony Brook on Wednesday, tallied in nearly exactly the same fashion vs. the Wildcats. He headed in Mike Joseph’s direct kick, outleaping UNH netminder Mike Vignola for the ball to tally at the 19:16 mark. The same combination had hooked up for the game-winning goal at 19:07 vs. Stony Brook.

The Retrievers put the game away with a pair of scores in a span of 1:30 early in the second half. Senior midfielder Marco Angelini took a pass from junior forward Derek McElligott down the left wing, cut in toward the goal, and hit a perfect shot inside the far right post at the 51:56 mark. At 53:26, Joseph’s corner kick was re-directed into the goal by Retriever forward George Bakoulas to give UMBC a 3-0 advantage.

UNH tried to rally, and got on the board at 69:00, as senior back Nicholas Mello pounced on a loose ball, and scored from eight yards away. But the Retrievers limited the Wildcats to four shots in the game and remained unbeaten at home (3-0-4) in 2003.

Vignola made 3 saves and allowed Gross’ tally in 26 minutes of action, before being replaced by freshman netminder Brian Levey, who made five saves, and allowed both second half scores. UMBC netminder Andy Marchica made a pair of saves, but had his scoreless streak of 292 minutes halted late in the contest.

The Retrievers will remain in first place in the AEC through the weekend, and step out of conference play with a game vs. Mt. St. Mary’s on Monday. They face a showdown with second place Boston University next Saturday at UMBC Soccer Stadium.