Las Vegas, Nev.--The UMBC men's soccer team played valiantly, but dropped a 1-0 decision to UC-Irvine (4-1-1) at the UNLV Rebel Classic in sunny, windy conditions.

UCI's Matt Murphy scored in the ninth minute of play, knocking home a rebound after UMBC netminder Steve King made a point blank save of a shot by Brandon Tario. UCI outshot UMBC, 5-1, in the first half, but the Retrievers surged in the final 45 minutes, just failing to get the tying goal on a pair of occasions.

King made a pair of saves in the setback as UMBC started newcomers Brian Pink (two shots) and Paul Potemra in the back and Dan Maudslay up front for the first time this season.

UMBC (1-5-1) will face host UNLV on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. (PDT).