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News Release

Men's Soccer Hosts New Hampshire on Saturday Afternoon; 1999 Team to Be Honored at Halftime

10/9/2009

The 25th-ranked UMBC (10-1-0, 1-1-0 America East) men’s soccer team entertains a confident New Hampshire (4-5-1, 1-0-0 America East) squad on Saturday, Oct. 10 at UMBC Soccer Stadium. Kick-off time is set for 1:00 p.m., as the Retriever soccer program also celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the 1999 NCAA Tournament team.

 

Junior forward Levi Houapeu scored a goal and added an assist and sophomore linemate Andrew Bulls tied a school record as UMBC blanked visiting Stony Brook, 2-0, (1-9-2, 0-2-0) before 772 fans at chilly UMBC Stadium on Wednesday evening.

 

Bulls continues to lead in the nation in scoring with 14 goals and 33 total points, while Houapeu is third in scoring with nine goals and 27 points and second in assists with nine. Entering the week, the Retrievers were third in the nation in total offense with 2.8 goals score per game, trailing only top-ranked Akron and Winthrop at 2.89. The 9-1-0 record was also third-best in the nation.

 

Bulls scored the game’s first goal vs. Stony Brook, producing a point in his 11th consecutive game. That tied the mark set by Retriever all-time great, Giuliano Celenza, who scored in 11 consecutive contests in 2000. His 14 goals are the most in a single season for UMBC since Derek McElligott amassed 15 goals in 2003 and the seventh-most in a single season in school history.

 

The win also gave UMBC a 10-win season for the first time since 2003 (10-3-5). The Retrievers rebounded after their first loss of the season, a 3-1 setback at Vermont on Saturday.  That loss halted a school record season-opening nine-match winning streak. Freshman netminder Phil Saunders made three saves in the game and allowed multiple goals for the first time in his ten-game tenure. The Catamounts’ score in the 12th minute was UMBC’s first goal allowed in 447 minutes. UMBC is 0-8-2 in its last ten America East road games, with its last win occurring at Maine in 2006. T

 

Saunders recorded his sixth shutout of the season in the win over Stony Brook.  Saunders had posted four straight shutouts in wins over CAA foes Towson (1-0) and Drexel, Loyola and La Salle. The four consecutive shutouts are UMBC’s first-such streak since a similar string in 2007.

 

The Retrievers’ 9-0-0 start was the best in school history and the longest winning streak since 1999, when the NCAA-bound team won 13 straight contests. The 1977 team (15-2-0) started its NCAA Division II tournament-bound season at 7-0-0, while the 1999 Retriever Division I squad opened with six straight wins en route to the nation’s best record that campaign at 19-1-2. 

 

Rankings

The Retrievers are ranked 23rd by College Soccer News, after debuting at No. 20 in that poll on Sept. 28.  UMBC is ranked sixth (tied with Dartmouth) in the NSCAA Northeast region this week after spending the last two weeks at No. 3. The team was ranked 18th overall nationally by the NSCAA on Sept. 28 and are still in the top 25 at No. 25 this week. The Retrievers also debuted at No. 25 in Soccer America and at No. 21 in Soccer Times on Sept. 28 and received votes (18, 32nd) in the latter poll this week.

 

Game Reviews and Notes

Bulls scored a pair of first half goals, leading the visiting Retrievers to a 3-0 victory over La Salle (3-4-1) in the team’s first road contest of the season on Sept. 26. Bulls netted his 11th and 12th goals of the season in the 22nd and 29th minutes and freshman Matt Knight added an insurance goal in the 89th minute to extend UMBC’s school-record winning streak to start a campaign. UMBC freshman goalkeeper Phil Saunders made five saves to record his fourth consecutive shutout and his fifth of the season.  UMBC snapped an 11-game road winless streak, which dated back to the 2007 season.

  

Bulls scored on a free kick in the 44th minute and Saunders made three outstanding saves in the final two minutes as UMBC edged Loyola , 1-0, before 1,505 fans at UMBC Stadium on Sept. 22. Saunders finished with six saves. It was UMBC’s first-ever win over Loyola on home turf.  The Greyhounds lead the series, 18-2-2, with the Retrievers’ lone previous win occurring at Towson in 2003.

 

Houapeu recorded the Retrievers’ first three-goal game in three years, leading the Retrievers to a 3-0 win over Drexel on Sept. 19. The team’s seven wins to start a season broke the school Division I record of the 1999 team, which played Fairleigh Dickinson to a 1-1 draw in the seventh game of the season were 6-0-1 after seven games. Houapeu recorded UMBC’s first three-goal game since Kevin Mezzadra scored three times in a home win over Howard on Sept. 20, 2006. The win was UMBC’s first-ever over Drexel, which leads the all-time series, 4-1-1. Bulls did not score a goal for the first time this season, but his assist on Houapeu’s final goal kept his scoring streak alive. Bulls scored goals in UMBC’s first six games and his eight goals in six games was the fastest to get to that plateau in UMBC’s Division I history. Ty Engram scored 11 goals through the first eight games of the 1999 campaign.

 

For the second consecutive year, UMBC won both games in its adidas Kick-Off Classic, but placed second to Navy. The Mids also defeated Mount St. Mary’s and St. Francis and allowed only one goal, compared to two allowed by the Retrievers.

 

UMBC has outscored its opponents, 30-7, through ten games this season… Before the wins over Loyola and Stony Brook, UMBC was just 1-8-2 in its last eleven night contests…  In its last 61 home games, the Retrievers are 39-9-13 (.746)… the Retrievers are 7-0-0 at home this season and 16-5-5 vs. America East opponents at home in six-plus seasons of league play. 

 

Series Notes 

The Wildcats leads the series, 3-2-1 and are 2-0-1 vs. UMBC in the last three meetings. The Retrievers’ last win (2-0) occurred at UMBC Soccer Stadium in 2005, where the hosts are 2-0-1 vs. UNH.  Last season, UNH scored twice in the final four minutes to defeat the Retrievers, 3-2, in Durham, N.H., eliminating UMBC from the playoff race. Bulls scored the first goal of the game for UMBC and midfielder John Paul Waraksa added an assist on the score that gave the guests a 2-1 lead in the 75th minute. 

 

The Wildcats

Senior forward Chris Banks punched in the game-deciding goal off a pass from Sean Coleman in the 73rd minute of play to propel the UNH (4-5-1, 1-0-0) to a 2-1 victory over 15th-ranked Boston University on Wednesday in Boston, Mass. New Hampshire's first strike of the half was a goal scored by Jordan Thomas to knot the game at 1-1 in the 53rd minute. Banks, an All-Conference player, leads UNH with three goals on the campaign. Seven of the Wildcats’ 10 goals this season have occurred in the second half.  

 

National Leaders: (as of Oct. 5, 2009)

Scoring Offense:                       3. UMBC 2.80 goals per game  1. Akron/Winthrop 2.89

Scoring Defense:                       31. UMBC (0.70 goals per game)                   

Points per game:                       1. Andrew Bulls, 3.1 ppg; 3. Levi Houapeu, 2.4 ppg

Goals per game:                        1. Andrew Bulls, 1.3 gpg (13)

                                                12. Levi Houapeu, 0.8 gpg (8)

Assists per game:                      2. Levi Houapeu 0.8 apg (8) Michael Nanchoff, Akron 0.89

Save Pct.                                  20. Phil Saunders (.860) 

Goals Against Avg.                   23. Phil Saunders (0.61)

  

2009 Honors Won

Andrew Bulls                                          NSCAA Player of the Week                                   Sept. 1-7

                                                                College Soccer News’ Player of the Week

                                                                College Soccer News’ Team of the Week

                                                                America East Conference Player of the Week

                                                                adidas Kick-Off Classic Most Valuable Player      Sept. 8, 10

                                                                America East Conference Player of the Week        Sept. 8-13

                                                                Soccer America’s Team of the Week

Levi Houapeu                                         adidas Kick-Off Classic All-Tournament Team     Sept. 8, 10

                                                                College Soccer News’ Team of the Week               Sept. 14-20

                                                                Soccer America’s Team of the Week          

                                                                America East Conference Player of the Week

Phil Saunders                                          America East Conference Rookie of the Week       Sept. 14-20

                                                                America East Conference Rookie of the Week       Sept. 21-27

Vince Savarese                                        adidas Kick-Off Classic All-Tournament Team     Sept. 8, 10

Chris Williams                                        adidas Kick-Off Classic All-Tournament Team     Sept. 8, 10

 

 

Andrew Bulls, The NSCAA Player of the Week (Sept. 8) posted his third consecutive two-goal game in the 3-1 win over St. Francis (PA)… Bulls was named America East Conference Men’s Soccer Player of the Week for games ending Sept. 13, 2009, earning the league’s top honor for the second consecutive week… He also was named to Soccer America’s Team of the Week (Sept. 15)… Bulls now has 22 career goals in 28 games and his 14 goals is the most in a season since Derek McElligott tallied 15 in the 2003 campaign

 

Levi Houapeu, who also earned All-Tournament team honors, assisted on all three UMBC in the 3-1 win over St. Francis (Pa.)… It was UMBC’s first three-assist effort since Powell Cucchiella posted four in a 10-0 win over NJIT in the opener of the 2004 campaign… His nine helpers are the most in a single season for UMBC since Cucchiella and Matt Watson amassed nine each in 2005… Houapeu scored all three goals in the 3-0 triumph over visiting Drexel… He recorded UMBC’s first three-goal game since Kevin Mezzadra scored three times in a home win over Howard on Sept. 20, 2006… Houapeu scored in the ninth, 25th and 77th minutes of the game.

 

A pair of UMBC defenders, junior Chris Williams and sophomore Vince Savarese also were named to the All-Tournament team of the adidas Kick-Off Classic.

 

Freshman midfielder Milo Kapor scored his first collegiate goal (85’) in the win over the Red Flash, just 29 seconds after Bulls’ second goal of the game.