BURLINGTON, Vt.—The UMBC women's soccer team (2-7-1, 1-0-0 AE) scored twice early in the second half and freshman goalie Lauren Kadet (Oakville, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) posted her first career shutout, as the Retrievers defeated host Vermont (1-9-0, 0-1-0 AE) by a score of 2-0 Sunday afternoon at Centennial Field. UMBC, which snaps an eight-game winless streak, opens America East play with a win for the first time since 2008 and just the second time in eight seasons in the conference.

After a scoreless first half, the Retrievers started the second stanza with a quick strike, tallying 43 seconds into the period. UMBC created some havoc in the box, and the Vermont defense was unable to clear the ball. Freshman midfielder Nicole Clark (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) finished off a give-and-go pass from junior forward Brooke Piper (London, Ontario/A.B. Lucas), shooting it into the upper left corner for her first career goal and a 1-0 Retriever lead.

A little over 10 minutes later, UMBC was awarded a free kick from 35 yards out. Senior back Christine Sadowski's (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood) serve bounced in the box, and senior midfielder Sandra Vacarino (Mantua, N.J./Clearview Regional) headed it over Vermont goalie Alyssa Kelly. It was Vacarino's third goal against the Catamounts in the last two seasons.

The America East Player of the Game, Kadet made eight saves while posting the first shutout by a Retriever freshman since Catie Bukowski blanked Albany on Oct. 9, 2005. It was UMBC's first shutout since defeating Hartford, 1-0, on Oct. 11, 2009, which was also the Retrievers' last win over an America East opponent.

Kelly stopped three shots for the Catamounts, who outshot the Retrievers, 12-9, including 8-2 in the second half.

"It's never easy to go on the road and get results, especially in the conference," head coach Alyssa Radu said. "Our patience and relentlessness enabled us to break Vermont down and score. Everyone contributed offensively, and we attacked and created really well, and for 90 minutes our defensive line and our keeper were solid. It's a great start to conference play, and we will look to build off this win."

The Retrievers return to action on Thursday, when they host defending America East champion Boston University at 4 p.m.