Albany, N.Y.-Senior forward Levi
Houapeu (Germantown, Md./Watkins Mill) scored a pair of
goals and freshman back Daniel
Welsh (Fife, Scotland) recorded his first collegiate goal
as UMBC (6-3-2, 1-0-2 America East) defeated Albany (4-8-0, 0-3-0)
, 3-1, at Varsity Field.
UMBC ran its unbeaten streak to a season-high four games and won
for the first time in four tries at Albany.
The Retrievers scored twice in the first 15 minutes of the rare
afternoon mid-week league contest. Welsh got the
Retrievers on the board in the 12th minute,
pouncing on a loose ball and knocking it home from six yards away
after Andrew Bulls'
(Millersville, Md./McDonogh) 35-yard free kick found its way
through a maze of players.
Just over three minutes later, freshman Pete Caringi
III (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) was taken down from behind
in the box and Houapeu stepped up and buried his third penalty kick
goal in three attempts this season.
Just 86 seconds in the second half, UMBC increased the advantage
to 3-0 off another set play. Standing several yards outside the
box, Bulls nudged a pass to Houapeu, who beat Albany netminder
Christian Mejia with a shot inside the far left post from eight
yards out.
UMBC held onto the three-goal advantage until the
76th minute, when Albany's Tjerk Veltman spoiled
junior goalkeeper Dan
Louisignau's (Wilmington, Del/Concord/U. Virgnia) shutout
bid.
Louisignau made six saves to improve to 3-0-2 on the season.
Mejia was credited with four saves for the hosts, who rallied late
to outshoot the Retrievers, 18-15.
The two-goal effort by Houapeu was the fifth multi-goal game of
his career and first since scoring twice at Towson on Sept. 8. He
took over sole possession of eighth place on UMBC's all-time
scoring list with 74 career points.
The two-assist effort by Bulls was his third of the season and
the preseason Hermann Award nominee now has 10 helpers on the year.
He has moved into second place on the school's all-time assist list
with 23.
UMBC will quickly turn its attention to Friday night, when the
Boston University Terriers came to UMBC Stadium for an 8:00 p.m.
match. That game will be nationally televised by Fox Soccer
Channel.
