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News Release

MEN'S SOCCER TANGLES WITH MOUNT ST. MARY'S FOR 31ST TIME

9/20/2005

RECAP: Senior defender Marcus Gross broke a one-all tie with a score in the 66th minute to lead host UMBC (2-3-1) to a 2-1 victory over Bowling Green (0-5-1) in a non-conference match-up at steamy UMBC Stadium. For the second straight game, senior midfielder Eric Mahon found the rangy Gross on a corner kick, and the two-time America East all conference defender headed it inside the left post from seven yards away. UMBC held BGSU to only two second half shots, and despite four second half corner kicks, the Falcons could not answer the Retrievers’ second score. UMBC took a 1-0 lead with just 21 seconds remaining in the first half. Freshman forward Kevin Gnatiko ran down an errant cross inside the far left end line and sent it back to the far post, where junior forward Kevin Mezzadra  headed it home from four yards away.

Gross and Mezzadra share the team lead with three goals each. They have each tied their season highs with three goals, both set in 2003. UMBC outshot BGSU, 11-6, and Retriever netminder Andy Marchica made four saves in the win.

SERIES HISTORY: UMBC will meet Mt. St. Mary’s for the 31st time, the Retrievers’ most -contested opponent. The Retrievers hold a 17-11-2 edge in the series, and are 7-0-1 in the last eight meetings (the draw occured in 2001). The Mount’s last win occured at UMBC in 1997, a 3-0 under the lights at UMBC Stadium. The teams have met in each of the past 12 years and UMBC has a 9-3-1 record against the Mount in those Division I meetings.

UMBC PLAYER NOTES: Happy Birthday Wishes to UMBC senior midfielder Powell Cucchiella, who turns 21 today, and to senior defender Jim Fendryk, who celebrates #22 tomorrow...netminder Andy Marchica (141 career saves) needs 3 more stops to move into eighth place on UMBC’s all-time list...Eric Mahon has assists in three of the last four games, surpassing his career point total in that span...Senior back Matt McGowan has now started 53 consecutive games for UMBC.

2OTH SEASON OF DIVISION I SOCCER: UMBC is competing in its 20th season of Division I soccer. UMBC entered 2005 at 202-134-32 (.592) in 19 years of Division I competition and 338-249-64 (.568) in 38 seasons of varsity competition. The Retrievers have recorded seven straight winning campaigns and posted a .500 mark or better in all but three (1986, 1988, 1997) Division I seasons. 

HOME, SWEET HOME: UMBC was 6-0-2 at home last season as they continue to play outstanding soccer at UMBC Soccer Stadium. The Retrievers had a brief hiccough in 2002, but have been dominant since the Soccer Stadium has hosted games, beginning in 1998. In that span, UMBC is 45-8-9 (.798), with 3 losses and 2 ties occurring in the 2002 campaign. UMBC has not lost a regular season home game since falling to Navy, 3-1, in September of 2002. They are 16-0-7 in that span. UMBC is 6-1-2 vs. America East Conference opponents at UMBC Soccer Stadium.  

STREAK HALTED:  UMBC had qualified for its conference’s post season tournament for nine straight seasons until a seventh-place finish (4-5 America East, 8-6-3 overall) last season. The Retrievers’ last early November vacation occured in 1994, when they also posted a record of better than .500 (9-8-1).

DUELING HOME SITES:  UMBC will play its four September home games and a pair of October contests on newly-renovated UMBC Stadium’s Momentum Turf surface. The other four games will take place at UMBC Soccer Stadium.   

HIGH PRAISE: America East coaches picked UMBC third in the pre-season league men’s soccer poll. Defending champion Boston University was the unanimous pick to retake the title, followed by Binghamton, UMBC and Stony Brook.

UMBC RECORD SITUATIONS (2006)

At Home:                                 2-0-1

On Road:                                 0-1-0

Neutral:                                    0-2-0

On Grass:                                 0-3-0

On Artificial:                             2-0-1

On Wednesday:                        0-1-0

On Saturday:                            0-0-0

Other Days:                              2-2-1

When Scoring First:                  2-2-1

When Allowing First:                0-1-0

One Goal Games:                     1-2-0

Decided by >1 goal:                 1-1-0

Outshooting Opponent:            2-2-0

Outshot:                                   0-1-1

In September:                           2-3-1              

In October:                               0-0-0

In November:                           0-0-0

A LOOK AT THE MT. ST. MARY’S MOUNTAINEERS

Sept.  2                        at Radford        L, 1-0

Sept.  3                        at V.M.I.          L, 3-2,2ot

Sept.  11                      at Pittsburgh     T, 3-3,2ot

Sept.  16                      Elon                 T, 1-1,2ot

Sept.  18                      Delaware          W, 2-0

Notes: Senior Howdy Long scored a career-high two goals to lift Mount St. Mary's past Delaware 2-0 in non-conference men's soccer action on Sunday.

Long, who came into his senior campaign with two goals and two assists for six points, scored a goal in each half to give him three goals and one assist for seven points in five games in 2005. Goalkeeper Mark Murphy recorded three saves to earn the shutout and help the Mount (1-2-2) to its first win of the year.

Mount St. Mary’s was 2-12-3 a year ago, and finished ninth in the Northeast Conference.