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MEN'S SOCCER HOSTS STONY BROOK ON WEDNESDAY WITH REGULAR SEASON TITLE UP FOR GRABS
11/1/2005
With the win at Boston University on Saturday, the Retrievers have recorded eight straight winning campaigns and posted a .500 mark or better in all but three (1986, 1988, 1997) of 20 Division I seasons.
THEY’RE IN: The win over Boston U. assured UMBC a first-round bye in the six-team America East Conference Tournament, which begins on November 5. The top two seeds (UMBC and Stony Brook) will host semi-final games on November 9. (The Retrievers will host their November 9 game at 7:00 p.m. at UMBC Stadium.) UMBC was the #1 seed in the 2003 America East Tournament, but finished seventh and did not qualify for last year’s tourney.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Until last Wednesday, UMBC had not lost a regular season home game since falling to Navy, 3-1, in September of 2002. They were unbeaten in 28 straight (20-0-8) in that span until a 1-0 setback vs. Lehigh last Wednesday. UMBC is 8-1-2 vs. America East Conference opponents at home (8-0-2 regular season) and have outscored their league foes, 24-6 at home. In fact, AE foes have scored just two goals in the last 11 games played in Baltimore.
RANKED: The Retrievers are ranked in the South Atlantic region for the fourth consecutive week, coming in at a season high #6 this week. It is the 13th time in Pete Caringi’s 15 years at UMBC that the Retrievers have dented the regional rankings.
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).
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.
IN REVIEW: UMBC wrapped up a first-round bye in the upcoming America East Tournament with a 3-0 win at Boston University in snowy conditions at Nickerson Field on Saturday. Freshman Manuel Mariel scored the game-winning goal in the 55th minute. It was his third goal of the year and second game winner, having posted the GWG and game's first goal in UMBC's league opener vs. Albany. Then sophomore Matt Watson took over. senior midfielder Steve Goddard knocked in Watson's shot off the post with 3:15 remaining to give UMBC an insurance goal and then last season's Rookie/Midfielder of the Year took the ball three-quarters of the length of the field to score an unassisted tally in the final minute of play. Watson is now tied for the team lead in points with 13 (3g, 7a). His 16 career assists in less than two seasons is one shy of entering the Retriever all-time top ten. Freshman netminder Steve King made six saves to record his eighth shutout in 10 outings. All of UMBC's six league victories have come via the shutout route. King was ranked fourth in the nation last week with a 0.46 GAA and that number rose slightly to 0.47 this week.
HONORED: For his crucial goal vs. Boston University, Manuel Mariel was named America East Conference Rookie of the Week (week ending October 30, 2005).
SERIES HISTORY: UMBC leads the series, 2-1, but the two teams have split a pair of America East meetings. UMBC posted a 1-0 win in 2003 in Baltimore, but the Seawolves responded with a 3-0 win in Stony Brook, N.Y. last year. The other meeting occured in Baltimore in 1999, and the Retrievers started that magical season (19-1-2) with a 5-1 win over USB.
UMBC RECORD SITUATIONS (2006)
At Home: 6-1-2
On Road: 3-2-1
Neutral: 0-2-0
On Grass: 2-4-0
On Artificial: 7-1-3
Day Games: 7-3-1
Night Games: 2-2-1
On Wednesday: 3-2-2
On Saturday: 4-1-0
Other Days: 2-2-1
When Scoring First: 9-2-1
When Allowing First: 0-3-0
One Goal Games: 4-3-0
Decided by >1 goal: 5-2-0
Outshooting Opponent: 6-3-2
Outshot: 2-2-1
In September: 4-3-2
In October: 5-2-1
In November 0-0-0
A LOOK AT THE STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES
Last five results
Sat. Oct. 15 *Albany W 2-1
Wed. Oct. 19 *Binghamton L 0-1
Sat. Oct. 22 *Vermont W 1-0
Wed. Oct. 26 at Duke L 1-2
Sun. Oct. 30 *at Maine W 3-2, ot
Notes: Stony Brook went 1-1 last week, dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker at No. 4 Duke before wiping out a 2-0 deficit en route to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Maine to secure a first round bye in the upcoming America East Tournament.. The win gave the Seawolves their second straight 10-win season and guaranteed the team its best record in America East play. Rob Fucci collected three goals on the week, including the Seawolves first two goals at Maine to tie the game at two. Douglas Narvaez scored the game-winning goal four minutes into overtime and assisted on the game-tying goal in the contest. John Moschella was outstanding in the loss at Duke, turning away six shots, while also making three saves in the win at Maine.