UMBC

Forward Amanda DiCarlo scored the Retrievers' first goal of the season.

Baltimore, Md.-Though the UMBC Retrievers (0-1) scored twice in the first 16:06 of play, it was not enough, as the women’s soccer team dropped its season opener on Friday, falling to Liberty (1-0), 3-2 in a non-conference contest. With the score tied at two goals apiece, Liberty’s Sarah Davis took a cross from teammates Mandee Judd and Tanya Payne to score the game-winner for the Flames at the 80:17 mark.

The first half was highlighted by offense, as each team scored twice. Liberty’s Amy Oberlin took a deflection from 22 yards out to give the Flames a 1-0 lead just 3:50 into the game, but UMBC’s Amanda DiCarlo (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada/St. Paul’s) tied the score just 4:31 later at the 8:21 mark when she redirected a cross from teammate Amy Morrison (Crofton, Md./South River).

The Retrievers struck again at the 16:06 mark when sophomore forward Jessica Young (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) scored on a lead pass from freshman Cara Palmer (Odenton, Md.) from 12 yards out to give UMBC an early 2-1 lead.

But the Flames tied the game 26 minutes later at 42:16, with forward Ashley Braam scoring on a through pass up the middle from forward Brittany Bench. The teams entered halftime tied 2-2, and the score remained the same through the first 35 minutes of the second period, until Davis broke the tie with the only goal of the half.

For the game, the Retrievers out-shot Liberty, 18-10, but UMBC had five corners to the Flames’ zero. Freshman goalkeeper Christine Bacinski (Hampstead, Md./Mount de Sales), the first true freshman to start at goalie for UMBC since Robin Babaris in 2002, played all 90 minutes in the net and tallied six saves in her first collegiate game. Liberty goalie Sonia Rodriguez recorded four saves.

The Retrievers next head down Interstate-95 for a regional non-conference match-up with George Washington on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Washington, D.C.