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News Release
Men's Soccer to Host Maine in America East Conference Match on Saturday
10/12/2007
The Retriever men's soccer team hopes to shake off Wednesday's tough overtime loss at Binghamton as UMBC hosts Maine in an America East Conference match-up at UMBC Soccer Stadium on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Retrievers (5-4-2, 1-1-0 America East) have won the last two meetings with Maine (2-8-1, 0-1-1) in overtime.
Dawg Bytes
The Retriever men’s soccer team lost a heartbreaking 1-0 overtime decision to defending league champion Binghamton on Wednesday night before 677 fans at the new Sports Complex. Binghamton was receiving votes in both soccer polls this week and was ranked fourth in the Northeast region, while UMBC was ranked tenth in the region.
UMBC looked as if they had the game won in the 95th minute, as junior midfielder Shondell Busby had a one-on-one opportunity. He shot from seven yards out beat Binghamton netminder Jason Stenta, but hit the inside the of right post.The Bearcats won it with 1:13 remaining in the first overtime. After a Retriever foul, a serve deep in the UMBC box could not be controlled by either team, but Binghamton midfielder Justin Leskow pounced on it and scored from a sharp angle into the far right corner of the net.
After scoring just two goals in a six-game span, UMBC mustered seven in two games last week with a 3-0 win over Mount St. Mary’s and a 4-0 victory over Stony Brook… sophomore forward Andrew Gillis scored two goals vs. the Mount and had a goal and an assist vs. Stony Brook…the two-goal game is the second of Gillis’ career, as he scored twice in the 2006 season finale vs. Hartford… in eight career America East Conference games, he has four goals and an assist… Freshman forward B.J. Quigley scored a goal in each victory last week and was named America East Rookie of the Week… Sophomore midfielder/defender Matt Ward had two assists in the win over Mount St. Mary’s and is the first Retriever to post multiple assists in a game since Matt Watson had two vs. the same Mountaineer squad in 2005...Freshman midfielder Levi Houapeu scored the game’s first goal vs. the Seawolves in the 34th minute.
The Retriever defense and junior goalkeeper Steve King 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…King is ranked 27th in the nation in goals against average (.680) and 30th in save percentage (84.1%).
Series Notes
UMBC holds a 3-1 series advantage and has won three straight. Last year, the Retrievers won a 2-1 double overtime decision at Maine after a 1-0 overtime verdict at UMBC Soccer Stadium in 2005.
The Black Bears
Maine struggled to an 0-17-0 mark last season, but has wins over U. Mass and LIU this year and just played UNH to a 1-1 draw last Saturday... junior forward Dimitri Anastasiou leads the team with three goals...three of Maine’s losses occured to teams ranked in tthe top 20 (Harvard, Brown, Boston College).
Conference Note
The Retrievers are 11-2-4 at home in America East Conference play.