Fairfield, Conn.- Visiting UMBC outshot No. 13 Fairfield, 41-40, but Stag goalkeeper Jack Murphy made 17 saves and the Retrievers fell, 14-9 at Alumni Field.

UMBC junior midfielders Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys' Latin) and Zach Linkous (Jarrettsville, Md./St. Paul's) paced the visitors in the scoring column. Finch amassed a career-best four-point day, with three goals and an assist, while Linkous recorded three goals.

Retriever junior face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha) won 16 of the game's 27 draws and recorded a season-best eight ground balls.

UMBC fell behind 3-0 early in the contest, but goals by junior midfielder David Campbell(Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), Linkous and sophomore Ty Kashur (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson/CCBC-Essex) in a span of 2:30 got the Retrievers even at 3-3 with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Retriever nearly took the lead ,but a shot by freshman midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) hit the post with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter and Fairfield corralled the ground ball. Fairfield cleared and the Stags' Tristan Sperry scored with just four seconds remaining in the quarter to give the hosts a 4-3 edge after 15 minutes.

Fairfield carried that momentum into the second quarter, as they held UMBC to just five shots and outscored the Retrievers, 4-0.

FU led, 8-3 at the half and extended the scoring run to 6-0 as Jordan Greenfield scored his third goal of the game 90 seconds into the third quarter. UMBC tried a get a rally going, as Linkous scored on the Retrievers' lone man-up chance of the day on a feed from senior attackman Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Wading River) and Finch netted an unassisted tally with 5:13 to play and the third.

But the comeback was short-lived, as the hosts started a 5-1 surge just 1:24 after Finch's goal and were in control at 14-6 with 11:30 remaining in the contest .

Finch scored twice and freshman attackman Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) added a goal in the final 10:48 to finalize the scoring on the day.    

Murphy, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week for the past two weeks, made 10 of his 17 stops in the second half. UMBC senior attackmen Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) and Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) each managed six shots, but could not dent the net.

UMBC senior goalkeeper Adam Cohen (Arnold, Md./Severn) made all eight of his saves in the middle two quarters of play.

FU's Jordan Greenfield led all scorers with four goals and six total points in the game.

UMBC (1-3) meets No. 1 Maryland (4-0) on Wed., March 6 at Byrd Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPNU and the opening face is set for just after 5:00 p.m.