Baltimore, MD-Senior back Andy Wells' successful penalty kick 4:44 into the first overtime gave UMBC (3-0) a 2-1 win over Howard (0-3) at UMBC Soccer Stadium. Retriever forward Franco Del Priore was pulled down while driving to the net at the 10-yard line. Wells, now 9 for 11 in his career in penalty kicks, calmly drilled the shot past the right side of Howard reserve netminder Jimmy Hernandez.
The game looked to be a routine for UMBC, which had defeated the Bison six consecutive times (now 7-1 overall) entering the match. Howard starting netminder Nigel Burgess was given a red card after a deliberate foul outside of the box just 12:17 into the game and HU was forced to play a man down the rest of the way.
The Retrievers broke through at 37:39 when freshmen Danny Mongello (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake HS) beat his defender and cut in down the right wing. He cross found the foot of classmate George Bakoulas (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley HS), who blasted a shot in from 10 yards away. But the Bison played inspired soccer, and tied the score at 1-1 at 57:35, when Bo Olawoye won the ball from several UMBC defenders just inside the box. His shot beat UMBC netminder Brian Rowland just inside the right post.
Rowland made four saves, while Hernandez (six) and Burgess (one) combined for seven stops for the visitors. UMBC outshot HU, 18-6. The Retrievers return to action on Sunday when they host Wisconsin at 1:00.
