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BALTIMORE – UMBC Head Soccer Coach Pete Caringi, Jr. has been at the helm for 302 Retriever victories. This afternoon's 2-1 America East triumph over Stony Brook was one of the more improbable in his 30-year career.

The line score will read that UMBC freshman Spencer Hanks (Odenton, Md./Arundel) scored a pair of second half goals to rally his side to victory. The victory kept UMBC (3-2-1, 2-2-1) alive for April's America East four-team championship. But, how that result occurred was bizarre.

Warm winds howled from goal line to goal line for much of the game and the team with the wind at their backs had a distinct advantage.

The Retrievers started seven freshman and 11 of the 16 players that saw action were taking part in their first year of competition.  

The Seawolves' (1-4-1, 1-2-1 AE) starting goalkeeper Edmond Kaiser got hurt in a collision in the first minute of play and had to leave the game at the 2:58 mark. At that time, UMBC had committed a foul just outside the box and, after a delay as Kaiser was being treated, SBU Trausti Bergisson struck a perfect 19-yard shot inside the far left post that UMBC junior goalkeeper Quantrell Jones (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood) had no chance to stop.

Despite the wind, the Retrievers did fight back in the first half, allowed no more goals and did put some pressure on Seawolf reserve netminder Curtis Copenhaver. When the second half began, chances of a Retriever rally were hopeful.

But just three minutes into the half, UMBC freshman midfielder Jago Lott was shown a red-card and the Retrievers were down a goal and a man.

However, Caringi's teams always press the play and were rewarded in the 58'. Sophomore Ryan Becher's (Hummelstown, Pa.) diagonal pass found Hanks on the left edge of the box and the rookie scored his first collegiate goal with a left-footed drive past the left side of Copenhaver.

Each side created chances in the final thirty minutes, with Stony Brook taking advantage of the extra player and UMBC using the wind to their advantage. But, with less than five minutes remaining, Jones took a short back pass from defender Jordan Ehart (Severna Park, Md./Mount St. Joseph) and blasted a ball that travelled more than 60 yards in the air down the center of the field. It bounded twice and Hanks outran two Seawolves to the ball and deposited it past Copenhaver for the go-ahead score with 4:36 remaining.

Jones was credited with an assist on the game-winning goal, and it matched his number of saves in the game.

UMBC steps out of conference play when they host St. Joseph's on Saturday, April 3.