BALTIMORE- Junior forward Levi Houapeu (Germantown, Md./Watkins Mill) converted on a penalty kick in the 77th minute as UMBC (5-0-0) edged Mount St. Mary's (1-3-0), 2-1, in the finale of the 2009 adidas Kick Off Classic.
Andrew Bulls (Millersville, Md./McDonogh) scored his eighth goal of the season in the first half and earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player honors.
Both Navy and UMBC won twice in the tournament, but the Mids allowed just one goal to take the tournament title.
The Mount got on the board first when Chris Wheeler grazed header off Eric Detzel's free kick eluded UMBC netminder Phil Saunders (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall) in the 16th minute. In a game which featured nine cautions, Mountaineer fullback Eric Mullins picked up his second yellow card with in the 34thminute left in the first half and the visitors played down a man for the final 56 minutes.
UMBC got the tying goal with just 32 seconds to play in the first half, as freshman forward Matt Knight (Kent, England) gathered in a cross from sophomore defender Jason McCarron (Odenton, Md./Arundel) and drilled a shot off the right post. Bulls ran onto the rebound and knocked it past Mount goalkeeper Chris Davis to knot the score just before the half.
The Retrievers continued to press the play in the second half and nearly drew a penalty kick when freshman midfielder Mark Lubetkin (Livingston, N.J.) was dragged down one yard outside the area at the 76:03 mark. Just 36 seconds later, Houapeu drove inside and was fouled at the 13-yard line. He drilled the ensuing penalty kick into the right corner of the net for his fifth tally of the campaign.
The Mountaineers managed two shots in the final 11 minutes, but Saunders' routine save on a Chris Wheeler attempt with 5:20 to play was the last attempt of the game.
UMBC's 5-0-0 record is the best start to a campaign since the 1999 season, when UMBC opened at 6-0-0 en route to a 19-1-2 record and NCAA berth. UMBC has now won six straight games vs. Mount St. Mary's and is unbeaten against their state rival in the last 11 contests (10-0-1). The Retrievers lead the all-time series, 20-11-2.
Bulls became the first UMBC player to amass eight goals in the first five games of a season.
Navy defeated St. Francis (Pa.), 2-0, in the opener of today's play. The all-tournament team consisted of Navy's Scott Robertson, Mike Rakoczy, Mark Garcia, David Jackson, and Michael Uyehara, UMBC’s Bulls, Houapeu, defenders Chris Williams and Vince Savarese, Mount's Wheeler and Alex Graver and St. Francis' Tyler Hibbs.
The Retrievers continue the five-game homestand on Wednesday when they entertain Towson at 4:00 p.m.
