The UMBC men's soccer squad (2-2-1, 1-2-1 AE) still controls its own destiny I pursuit of an America East Conference playoff berth, but the Retrievers face a must-win situation when the welcome the Stony Brook Seawolves (1-3-1, 1-1-1 AE) to Retriever Soccer Park on Friday, March 26.
The contest gets underway at 4:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on the America East digital network.
The winner of each three-team pod will advance to the four-team America East playoffs. The Retrievers face rematches with both Stony Brook and NJIT (April 9) in their pod (Pod C) over the next three weeks.
Currently, Stony Brook leads Pod C with a mark of 1-0-1, followed by NJIT at 1-1-0 and UMBC and 0-1-1. The Retrievers and Seawolves played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer on Long Island on March 5.
Last Time Out
Host Binghamton scored in the eighth minute play and added another as UMBC pressed forward in the closing stages to claim a 2-0 victory at the Bearcats Sports Complex on March 19.
Q
Jones leads America East with three shutouts and now has 10 in his career. After making a career-high nine saves in the opener vs. GW, he has been called upon to make only 14 stops in the last four games. His save of a Aki Solvason shot in the 72' at Stony Brook earned him No. 6 on the Sports Center Top Ten list on March 3.
Foes Finally Dent the Net
UMBC opened the season by not allowing a goal for the first 260 minutes of action before NJIT converted on a penalty kick rebound.
Binghamton became the first team to score the initial goal in a UMBC contest in the spring of 2021.
Milestone
Head Coach Pete Caringi, Jr.is the third coach in UMBC history to mentor a program for 30 or more seasons. He recorded his 300th is next victory on Feb. 27, as UMBC defeated George Washington, 1-0, in double overtime.
Honored
UMBC freshman forward Taylor Calheira (Towson, Md./Concordia Pre) and junior goalkeeper Quantrell Jones (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood) earned two of the three weekly honors from the America East Conference on March 1.
Calheira earned Rookie of the Week honors, while Jones was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week.
Making his collegiate debut, Calheira struck off a corner kick in the 106' as the host Retrievers opened the 2020-21 campaign with a 1-0 double overtime victory over George Washington on February 23. Jones set a new career high with nine saves and recorded his eighth career shutout in the Retrievers' 1-0 double-overtime victory over the Colonials.
UMBC vs. Stony Brook, and More on the Seawolves
- UMBC holds a 13-8-2 mark all-time versus the Seawolves.
- The Retrievers are 7-2-2 in the last 11 matches vs. SBU.
- UMBC won a 4-1 decision in the 2019 Senior Day finale over Stony Brook. Sophomore Dadi Ingason scored a goal and added an assist in the contest.
- Since the draw versus UMBC, SBU won at NJIT, 2-0, and fell to UNH, 2-1.
- Solvason is second in America East with three goals on the season.
Dawg Bytes
- The back-to-back shutouts of GW and Stony Brook were the Retrievers' first since the first two games of the 2017 campaign
- The Retrievers received 18 votes (30th-most) in Soccer Wire's Week 1 national rankings (March 2).
- The America East Championships will be held April 15 and 17 at a single site, with the champion advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
- Juniors Jordan Ehart (Severna Park, Md./Mount St. Joseph) and Quantrell Jones and sophomore Julian Conze (Telgte, Germany) will serve as tri-captains for the 2020-21 campaign.
- Twelve of 23 players on the squad are newcomers. Five freshmen (Calheira, Hanks, Jago Lott, Hans Nesheim, William Forby) have started all five games to date.
UMBC gets back into action on Saturday, April 3 when they host St. Joseph's in a non-conference contest. This game takes place at Retriever Soccer Park with a 4:00 p.m. kick-off on tap.
