VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

BALTIMORE – UMBC sophomore midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School (Va.)) scored four of his career-high five goals in the fourth quarter as the host Retrievers staved off a Hartford rally and defeated the Hawks, 16-11, in an America East Conference contest in summer-like conditions at UMBC Stadium.

UMBC improved to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while UH slipped to 5-8, 0-3.

Inserted onto the man-up unit for the contest, UMBC senior midfielder Ryan Johnston (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown)  tied a school record by scoring three extra-man goals on the day.

Retriever freshman netminder Connor Gordon (Bourne, Mass./Tabor Academy) turned in another outstanding performance. He made 13 saves, but all of his four of fourth-quarter stops were all dazzling efforts.

"We were not happy with the outcome of last week and were determined to come out here today and get one back," said head coach Don Zimmerman. "The key was that we jumped all over them early. Give Hartford credit, they make their run, but it's really hard to come back when you're down that many. I really liked the way we played down the stretch."

The Retrievers never trailed, but looked to make a comfortable day as they sprinted out to leads of 5-0, just 7:03 into the contest and 9-3 on Johnston's third man-up score just 5:47 into the second quarter.

But Hartford scored twice in a span of 19 seconds late in the quarter and had the momentum going into the break, trailing just 9-5.

The Hawks continued to push back in the third quarter and closed the deficit to 10-8 on a goal by freshman attackman Jaedon Henderson midway through the stanza.  The Retrievers halted that 5-1 Hawk run as senior attackman Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) was rejected twice by Hawk senior goalkeeper Frank Piechota, but sophomore midfielder Jack Gannon (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) corralled the loose ball and fed Gregoire inside for the Retrievers' 11th score.

Gordon came up with a huge, acrobatic save on UH's Brad Hutton at the 3:33 mark of the fourth quarter, and Young cashed in on the other end, scoring an unassisted goal 41 seconds later.  Hawk attackman Andrew Cacchio got that goal back off the ensuing draw 18 seconds later, but Young started and ended a 3-0 UMBC run with goals over a span of 3:32, which gave the hosts a 15-9 advantage with 6:13 to play.

Hartford would continue to fight back, getting back-to-back goals from Matt Carroll and Hutton to trim the score to 15-11 with 5:13 remaining. But Young set his personal high in goals, converting a Ty Kashur (Manassas, Va./CCBC-Essex) feed with 4:22 remaining and sealing the victory for the Retrievers.

"I think (Pat Young) played his best game since he's been here," said Zimmerman. "He really took the game into his own hands down the stretch."  

Gannon and freshman attackman Max Maxwell also set personal bests in the contest. Gannon led all scorers with six points, scoring twice and adding four assists, while Maxwell set a season-high with four helpers. Three of Gannon's assists occurred on man-up opportunities.

Henderson led Hartford with two goals and two assists and Piechota was credited with nine saves.

UMBC outshot UH, 38-35. The Hawks were penalized ten times (8:00) and the Retrievers were credited with four man-up goals on seven attempts.

"I'm really happy for the team- hard work pays off," Zimmerman said.

Notes:  Gannon, who recorded one assist in his freshman season, now has 17 goals and 18 helpers as a sophomore… Gordon has made more saves than allowed goals in 9 of 11 games in 2014…  Six other Retrievers have scored three man-up goals in a game… Alex Hopmann was the last to do it on April 3, 2007 vs. Towson… Young has scored at least one point in 22 consecutive games… UMBC is now 24-4 in 28 America East Conference home games in 11 league seasons and the Retrievers have yet to lose back-to-back games in conference regular season play