UMBC

Baltimore—The nation’s seventh-leading goal scorer, Hartford (6-3-2, 2-0-0 America East) junior forward Carlos Villa, burned host UMBC (5-3-2, 0-1-1) for the game-winning goal and added an assist as the visiting Hawks blanked the Retrievers, 2-0, in an America East contest at UMBC Soccer Stadium.

Hartford, which triumphed for the first time in four trips to UMBC, is now 5-1-2 in their last eight games. The Retrievers had several streaks come to an end—a nine-game home unbeaten streak (7-0-2), a six-game home America East (4-0-2) unbeaten run and a more modest three-game overall unbeaten streak.  

After a scoreless first half, Villa struck in the 60^th minute for his 10^th goal in 11 games this season. He ran through the middle of the UMBC defense, which had attempted to draw him offside. But the UH forward received a pass from midfielder Sam Groves, broke in alone on UMBC netminder Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) and knocked the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper from 20 yards away.

Hartford, which played a conservative first half, drew more life from the goal and added an insurance marker in the 70^th minute. Villa’s direct kick from just outside the left corner of the box was stopped by King, but the rebound was put away by sophomore defender Bojan Delibasic. 

The Retrievers applied pressure in the final six minutes, recording five of their nine shots in that span. The best chance occurred in the 85^th minute, when Jovan Petrovic (Begrade, Serbia) headed a ball just wide of the right post.

UMBC had not lost a home conference game since a 3-1 loss to Binghamton in 2006. In six years, UMBC has lost only four times at home (14-4-5) to America East competition and three of those losses have occurred after a game at Maine. 

The Retrievers had the better of the play in the first half, but could only manage three shots.

Hartford outshot UMBC, 11-9 and freshman netminder Luke Citriniti recorded three saves. King posted six saves for the home side. UH junior midfielder Ivan Guarin was named Man of the Game for the visitors, while senior reserve midfielder Kevin Gnatiko (Montgomery Village, Md./Watkins Mill) earned the honor for the Retrievers.

UMBC hosts Vermont on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

Hartford 2, UMBC 0

Scoring: H-Carlos Villa (Sam Groves) 60’; H-Bojan Delibasic (Villa) 70’.

Saves: H-Luke Citriniti 3 (0ga, 90 min.); UM-Steve King 6 (2ga, 90 min.)

Shots: H-11, UM-9. Corners: H-4, UM-1. Fouls: H-14, UM-8. Offsides: H-4, UM-5. Att:240