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West Hartford, Conn.- UMBC senior midfielder Kadeem Dacres (Rosedale, N.Y.) broke a 1-1 tie with an early second half score and the visiting, seventh-ranked Retrievers (10-1-0, 1-0-0 America East) held on for a 2-1 victory over Hartford (7-2-2, 0-1-0) in the America East opener for both squads.

UMBC had to rally, as Hartford opened the scoring on a goal by Javoni Simms in the 16th minute. But Retriever senior forward Pete Caringi III (Perry Hall, Md./Calvert Hall) tallied his nation-leading 10th goal of the season in the 30th minute and the game was deadlocked at 1-1 at the break.

The visitors picked up the attack in the second half and got the game-winning goal in the 50 th minute. Junior midfielder Mamadou Kansaye (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) took a free kick from the right side and swung a serve deep into the Hawk box. UMBC caused traffic in front of Hawk netminder David Mackinnon and Dacres took advantage, booting home his fifth goal of the season from six yards out.

UMBC goalkeeper Phil Saunders (Perry Hall ,Md./Perry Hall) was credited with four saves in the victory and made a brilliant stop on Simms in the 58th minute when the UH goal-scorer was unattended and fired from seven yards out.   

"It was great to open on the road with a victory over a team we have a great deal of respect for," head coach Pete Caringi, Jr. said. "It is very difficult to get behind on the road, but we didn't panic and had great chances to even build on the lead in the second half."

After the Dacres goal, UMBC continued to press and Dacres and junior midfielder Stephen Ho (North Potomac, Md./Wootton) both misfired on semi-breakaways in a two-minute span. Sophomore midfielder Malcolm Harris (Damascus, Md./McDonogh), who drew an assist on Caringi's first half goal, also had a golden opportunity to extend the lead to 3-1,but shot wide right from close range with 15 minutes remaining.  

Hartford held a slight edge in shots, 16-15, and Mackinnon made three saves for the hosts.

UMBC faces another tough road test when they play William & Mary in a non-conference contest on Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Notes: UMBC has won twice this season (2-1-0) when falling behind, 1-0… UMBC improved to 4-4-3 in America East openers and to 7-5-2 vs. Hartford… Caringi scored for the first time since a goal at Loyola on Sept. 21… The goal was the 34th of his career and ties him with former teammate Levi Houapeu for fifth place in school history.