Durham, N.H.--The UMBC men's soccer team came within four minutes of clinching a spot in the America East Conference Championships. Four minutes later, their post-season chances had disappeared into the brisk New Hampshire night.
 
The Wildcats (7-5-4, 2-4-2 America East) rallied for a 3-2 win over the Retrievers (6-8-2, 1-5-1) and it was UNH that earned the sixth seed into next week's tournament.
 
UMBC held a 2-1 lead in the waning moments of the game and a Retriever win, coupled with Maine and Stony Brook losses would have given UMBC that sixth spot. But with 4:05 remaining in the game, Wildcat back Richard Weinrebe converted a cross from A.J. Dubois to knot the score at 2-2.
 
With overtime looming, New Hampshire's Dylan George knocked in a rebound of a Chris Banks shot at the 87:16 mark and UNH took their first lead of the night. UMBC could not manage a shot in the final moments and fell by a single goal for the fourth time in league play.
 
The Retrievers took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute of play. Freshman forward Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh) scored his eighth goal of the season as he took a centering pass from senior midfielder Kevin Gnatiko (Montgomery Village, Md./Watkins Mill) and scored from inside the box.
 
UMBC took that lead into intermission, but gave it up in the 74th minute as UNH forward Chris Banks lined a shot into the lower, far right corner. However, the Retrievers quickly regained the advantage as Gnatiko scored his first goal of the year just 85 seconds after the game was tied. He took a feed from sophomore midfielder John Paul Waraksa (Media, Pa.) and lobbed a shot over UNH netminder Colin O’Donnell from 25 yards away.
 
But the Retrievers continued to be plagued by second half goals as they allowed 10 scores in their five losses in the final stanza.
 
UNH outshot UMBC, 13-5 in the second half and 20-14 for the game. King and O’Donnell each made five saves and each team had four corner kick opportunities.
 
UMBC concludes the campaign at Stony Brook on Sunday, Nov. 2.