Baltimore, MD - Senior forward George Bakoulas (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley)and junior midfielder Powell Cucchiella (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech) scored second half goals as UMBC (7-5-2, 3-4 America East) blanked Northeastern (2-8-4, 1-3-3 AE), 2-0, in a critical America East match-up before 845 fans on Homecoming Weekend.
Freshman midfielder Matt Watson (Redditch, England) assisted on both tallies.
UMBC came out strong, but Husky netminder Sergio Saccoccio repelled three good scoring chances in the first ten minutes of play and the game was scoreless at intermission. But the Retrievers struck at the 48:21 mark as Watson picked off a pass in Northeastern territory and drove down the right side. He crossed it to the center of the box, where Bakoulas volleyed it home from eight yards away inside the right post.
The Retrievers used a bit of deception to score the insurance goal in the 69th minute. Senior forward Derek McElligott (Baltimore, Md./Greater Grace Acad.) touched the ball in off a corner kick, and Watson sprinted with the ball into the box. He cross was hit square by junior back Marcus Gross (Barnstaple, England) to Cucchiella, who blasted his sixth goal of the year past Saccoccio from five yards out.
Saccoccio made four saves for the game, while UMBC junior netminder Andy Marchica (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) recorded his third shutout of the year and 12th of his career, moving into fourth place on UMBC's all-time list.
"I am very proud of this team, I thought that was one of our better performances of the year," said Head Coach Pete Caringi. "We had a lot of pressure on us, there was a big crowd, it was an emotional day for the seniors and I thought we responded very well. If we play like we did today down the stretch, we can beat anybody."
UMBC entered the game tied with Northeastern for seventh place in the conference standings, with only the top six teams in the league earning a spot in the America East Tournament. The Retrievers have two games left, at first-place Boston University on October 30, and home vs. tenth-place Hartford on November 3.
The Retrievers are 5-0-1 at home in 2004, and are 13-0-5 in their last 18 regular season home games. The Huskies are now winless in seven straight (0-3-4) and have scored just 7 goals in 14 outings this season.
