Box Score Video Highlights
Burlington, Vt.- UMBC senior midfielder Kadeem Dacres (Rosedale,
N.Y./Mercer County CC) headed home the game-winning goal with 12
seconds to play in regulation time as the visiting Retrievers
rallied for a dramatic 2-1 victory at Vermont's Virtue Field.
The eighth-ranked Retrievers won in Burlington for the first
time since 2004 and improved to 11-1-1 overall and 2-0-1 in America
East play. Vermont (7-3-3, 1-2-0) lost for the first time at home
(5-1-1) in 2013.
UMBC drew a foul 30 yards from the goal with 25 seconds
remaining in the half. Junior midfielder Mamadou Kansaye
(Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) took the kick and sent a low drive deep
into the box. Dacres just got in front of Vermont goalkeeper Conor
Leland and skimmed it off his head and into the net.
The goal was Dacres' sixth of the season, surpassing the five he
put up a year ago, his first in a UMBC uniform.
The Retrievers improved to 4-0-0 on the road in 2013 and are now
unbeaten in their last eight road contests (6-0-2), tying an
all-time school record.
The victory was also UMBC's third when allowing the game's first
goal. They defeated Navy, 3-2, in double overtime and Hartford,
2-1, before today's rally.
"It's the sign of the character and confidence of this group
that they don't get fazed when they get behind," head coach Pete
Caringi, Jr. said. "It's a huge win for us against a very good team
at a place that we have struggled historically."
After a scoreless first half, Vermont struck less than three
minutes into the second frame. A loose ball at midfield was
played up to Charlie DeFeo, who broke in on a two-on-one with
freshman striker Brian Wright. Wright didn't get the initial shot
off, but recovered and chipped a shot into an open net for his
sixth score of the season.
But UMBC took over the play and knotted the score in the 59th
minute. After a Retriever corner kick, the ball pinballed around in
the box, until Retriever junior back Jordan Becker (Pocomoke,
Md./Pocomoke) put a volley into the net from seven yards out.
The goal was the second of the season for Becker and the fourth
of his career.
UMBC outshot their hosts, 7-3, in the second half and 11-8 for
the contest.
Each team had a pair of good chances in the first 45 minutes.
The Retrievers' opportunities occurred in the span of a minute at
the midpoint of the half. Kansaye took a 25-yard free kick, which
Leland dove to knock away from the near right post. Then, senior
forward Pete Caringi III (Perry Hall, Md./Calvert Hall) had a shot
from the top of the box, but the ball went wide of the same
post.
Vermont countered moments later when Noah Johnson struck a drive
from 20 yards out and UMBC goalkeeper Phil Saunders (Perry Hall,
Md./Perry Hall) answered with an acrobatic diving stop at the near
right post. The Retriever netminder also punched away a DeFeo
short range header later in the half after one of Vermont's five
first half corners.
Saunders finished with two saves, but did not have to make any
in the final 45 minutes. Leland finished with four saves for the
Catamounts.
UMBC returns home on Saturday, Oct. 19 when they host
first-place New Hampshire. Kick-off time is set for 7:00 p.m.