Philadelphia--UMBC (3-1-1) senior goalkeeper Steve King (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) made seven stops in goal for the Retrievers, but the Retrievers could not solve Drexel (2-1-2) netminder Cory Robertson as the two teams battled to a scoreless draw at Vidas Field.
Despite forcing Robertson to make nine saves, UMBC was held off the board for the first time this season. King's shutout was his second of the campaign and 19th of his career.
UMBC applied the pressure in the first half, outshooting the hosts, 7-2. Robertson made five first-half saves including two from close-range to keep the match scorless. UMBC sophomore forward Levi Houapeu (Germantown, Md./Watkins Mill) put in a quality half of work by creating several scoring opportunities for the Retrievers.
Robertson was equal to the task again when UMBC tested him midway through the second stanza. Senior Kevin Gnatiko (Montgomery Village, Md./Watkins Mill) set up two chances, both of which required difficult saves and resulted in corner kicks. Robertson made two leaping deflections to break up both corners and hold UMBC off the board.
Drexel's Ryan Zimmer had a break-away chance with eight minutes left in the match which required a smothering save by King diving to his right. Less than two minutes later, Bafile led a fast break. The junior put a shot on goal on a dead sprint from 30 yards out, but King deflected it. Leland Raum was there to gather the rebound and quickly tried to chip it over the charging King's head. But the keeper made a quick adjustment and made the save.
With less than two minutes left, Drexel's Fabio Assumpcao beat his defender one-on-one and crossed a pass that got behind King. But the feed did not find a connection as the Retrievers quickly cleared it away.
Drexel outshot UMBC, 5-1, in the first overtime period, but momentum swung for UMBC in the second overtime. Bryan Ruff picked up his second yellow card on a physical tackle on the right side of the 18-yard box. The disqualification left Drexel a player down for the remaining 7:25 of the match and gave the Retrievers a free kick just outside the box. The opportunity led to a point-blank blast by Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh), UMBC's leading scorer, but Robertson smothered it off his foot to make the save. The Retrievers earned another chance when Bulls worked his way across the top of the box and drew a foul. The ensuing free kick, with the ball placed directly on the 18-yard line in front of the goal, went just over the net off the foot of senior midfielder Dan Bulls (Millersville, Md./Old Mill).
It was UMBC's first-ever result vs. the Dragons, as Drexel had won the previous four encounters. UMBC takes on another CAA foe, when they travel across the beltway to take on Towson on Wednesday.
