NEWARK – In a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive, the UMBC men's soccer team (8-7-2, 3-4-1 America East) rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and defeated NJIT, 3-2, to clinch a spot in next week's America East Tournament.
Sophomore Dillon Nesteruk (Baltimore, Md./Eastern Tech), senior Jackson Becher (Hummelstown, Pa.) and freshman Hayden Lim (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) scored in the first 28 minutes of the second half to propel the Retrievers to just their second road victory of the season.
Both Nesteruk and Lim scored their first collegiate goals. Lim buried his own rebound in the 73' for the game-winner.
With Binghamton's loss at UAlbany, the Retrievers' 10 points puts them four points clear of NJIT, Binghamton and Hartford. UMBC has completed the regular season, while all the other eight teams compete on Monday, Nov. 1. The Retrievers currently occupy fourth place in the standings and will play in a quarterfinal match-up on November 6 or 7.
"I am extremely proud of how hard our team played in the second half," said head coach Pete Caringi, Jr. "There was no quit in the team playing on a senior night on the road."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UMBC sophomore forward Taylor Calheira (Towson, Md./Concordia Prep) rang a shot off the post in the 6', but NJIT scored first half goals in the 29' and 32' to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.
- Junior back Julian Conze (Telgte, Germany) struck a perfect free kick from the right side in the 50', and Nesteruk snuck in from his central fullback slot to tap the ball in at the far left post.
- In the 59', Jackson Becher gathered in a long pass and back-heeled the ball to sophomore William Forby (Velge, Denmark), who was racing down the left side. Forby crossed it back into the box, where Becher re-directed it brilliantly into the lower right corner of the net.
- Lim, making his second career start, re-entered the game in the 69' and four minutes later he got free on the right side of the box after a beautiful through ball by Jackson Becher. His first shot was saved by NJIT netminder Samuel Reisgys, but the ball came right back to Lim, who used his left foot to bury a shot into the far upper left corner.
- The Highlanders earned three corners in the final 90 seconds, but did not get a shot off.
NOTABLE
- The last time the Retrievers came back from a two-goal deficit to win occurred on Sept. 22, 2015. GW took a 2-0 lead in the 32', but a late first half goal and a pair in the second half gave UMBC the 3-2 triumph in Washington, D.C.
- Since advancing the to the America East championship game in 2018, UMBC has not competed in the last two league tournaments (2019, spring 2021).
- NJIT had a slight edge in shots, 12-11, and UMBC senior goalkeeper Quantrell Jones (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood) made four saves to get the win.
- Conze dished out his ninth assist of the season, the most for a Retriever since Milo Kapor had 13 in 2012.
