BALTIMORE – The UMBC women's soccer team opened the 2022 home campaign in style, scoring a pair of second half goals and defeating Wagner, 2-1, in humid conditions at Retriever Soccer Park.
Graduate student midfielder
Lola Negrete (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) put the Retrievers on top, 1-0, in the 49', and junior striker
Meghan McKye (Toronto, Ont., Can.) added a key insurance marker in the 70'.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UMBC held a territorial advantage, but the two teams combined for only four shots in a scoreless first half.
- In the 49', Wagner was called for a handball, batting down a Caroline Koutsos shot just outside the box. Negrete teed it up from 19 yards out and her gently arched shot eluded the outstretched save attempt by Wagner netminder Sam Hughes.
- Hughes would deny senior Natasha Munro on a shot from the left wing in the 53', but the Retrievers doubled the lead in the 70'. Sophomore midfielder Abby Joseph drove smartly down the right wing and along the goal line before crossing the ball to McKye, who redirected the ball just inside the far left post from eight yards out.
- The Seahawks' Claire Janis scored on a header in the 86', but UMBC held possession down the stretch to even their record at 1-1-1.
NOTES
- Negrete had assisted on UMBC's first two goals, but scored her first in black and gold.
- McKye leads the team in the early going with two goals.
- Joseph earned her first collegiate point with her assist.
- Senior goalkeeper Morgan McGruder made a pair of saves to earn the victory. Hughes had five for the Seahawks, as UMBC outshot Wagner, 11-6.
UMBC heads to Lexington, Va. to take on VMI on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
