UMBC

Steve King moved into third place on UMBC's all-time list with his 14th career shutout.

Baltimore, Md.—The UMBC men’s soccer team authored a complete game on both ends of the field, as the Retrievers blanked a talented Stony Brook team, 4-0 in the conference opener for both teams before 509 fans at sun-soaked UMBC Soccer Stadium.

UMBC won its second straight game and improved to 5-3-2 overall, while Stony Brook fell to 6-4-1.

After an evenly-played first 25 minutes, the Retrievers started to take control in the final stages of the first half. UMBC broke on top as sophomore forward Ime Umoh (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) sent a ball ahead to a sprinting Levi Houapeu (Germantown, Md./Watkins Mill) . The freshman midfielder got past the defense and deked goalkeeper Dawid Ditrich at the edge of the box. Houapeu then deposited a shot from nine yards away into the open goal at the 33:05 mark.

UMBC took that advantage to halftime and scored a pair of goals in five-minute span to take control in the early stages of the second. Sophomore forward Andrew Gillis (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall), who scored twice at Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday, hit the nets again at the 59:01 mark. Senior midfielder Brian Moffa (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) sent a ball down the line to a streaking Kevin Gnatiko (Montgomery Village, Md./Watkins Mill). The junior midfielder broke in and his hard shot was repelled by Ditrich, but the rebound bounded out to the top of the box. Gillis pounced on the loose ball and his carefully-measured shot from 16 yards out found the right portion of the net.

With the Seawolves attempting to apply the pressure, Gillis turned defense to offense as his looping clear was run onto by junior midfielder Shondell Busby (Toronto, Ont.). Busby broke in alone and beat Ditrich from 14 yards away into the right corner at the 63:46 mark.

Freshman forward B.J. Quigley capped the scoring as he chased a ball down in the left corner, beat his defender and then beat reverse netminder Rich Skoblicki from eight yards away with 1:19 remaining.

The Retriever defense and junior goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) kept the high-scoring Seawolves off the board and UMBC recorded its sixth shutout of the season. King now has 14 career shutouts and has moved into third place in school history. Stony Brook entered the game as the top-scoring team in the league with 1.78 goals per game.

UMBC outshot their guests, 12-8 and had six of the game’s eight corners. They snapped a three-game losing streak to Stony Brook and evened the all-time series at 3-3.

Notes: After scoring just two goals in a six-game span, UMBC has mustered seven in two games this week… the Retrievers are now 11-2-4 at UMBC Soccer Stadium in America East play… Gillis, who scored three goals in his freshman season, now has four on the year and is UMBC’s active goal-scoring leader with seven… the Retrievers face defending league champion Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y. on Wednesday night.

UMBC 4, Stony Brook 0

Scoring: UM-Levi Houapeu (Ime Umoh) 34’; UM-Andrew Gillis (Kevin Gnatiko, Bryan Moffa) 60’; UM-Shondell Busby (Gillis) 64’; UM-B.J. Quigley 89’.

Saves: S-Dawid Ditrich 5 (3ga, 74:39), Rich Skoblicki 1 (1ga, 15:21); UM-Steve King 2 (0ga, 90:00)

Shots: S-8, UM-12. Corners: S-2, UM-6. Fouls: S-8, UM-12. Offsides: S-1, UM-1. Att: 509.