The UMBC men's soccer team (6-3-3, 2-1-1 America East) plays a rare day game on Saturday, Oct. 21 when the Retrievers travel to Burlington, Vermont and take on the 16th-ranked Catamounts (10-2-2, 3-1-0) at 1:00 p.m. on the turf of Virtue Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.  

Vermont is the third nationally-ranked team (Cornell, UNH) that UMBC has played in 2023. Hofstra and Bryant (current No. 24) have also been in the nation's top 25 at points during the season.  

BREAKING NEWS

• Defending America East champion No. 24 New Hampshire broke open a tight affair by scoring three times in five minutes late in the second half and defeated UMBC, 4-1, in slick conditions at Retriever Soccer Park on Oct. 14.
• Despite the setback, UMBC is still tied for second place in America East with a 2-1-1 mark.
• UMBC senior forward Taylor Calheira scored his conference-leading tenth goal of the season in the 62' to knot the game at 1-1. Calheira has now reached the 10-goal plateau in back-to-back seasons and his 32nd career strike moves him into eighth place on the school's all-time list. He has also moved into a tie for ninth place on the Retrievers' all-time points list with 78.
• Calheira is three goals clear of Vermont's Yaniv Bazini for the top spot in America East. Calheira is tied for sixth in the tenth in goal scoring and tied for ninth in goals per contest (0.83) as of the last statistical report on October 19.  
• Senior forward Alek Wroblewski, the America East's Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16, is seventh in the league with five goals scored.
• The America East is currently ranked sixth in RPI among all conferences. UMBC is ranked No. 37 in the RPR, one of five America East teams in the top 50.
• UMBC was ranked No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches Northeast Regional poll as of Oct. 16. Along with the Retrievers, UNH (1), Vermont (2) and Bryant (3) comprise four teams in the poll. Cornell, a team which UMBC edged, 2-1, on Sept. 16, is ranked No. 6 in the region.
• UMBC is 41st in the nation in scoring offense with 1.83 goals scored per game.

 
A GLANCE AT THE CATAMOUNTS                

• Vermont is ranked No. 16 in the Oct. 16 United Soccer Coaches' poll. They are the third nationally-ranked team (Cornell and UNH are the others) UMBC has faced at the time of their ranking this season. Hofstra earned a national ranking subsequent to the game versus UMBC.
• The Catamounts (10-2-2, 3-1-0 AE) took over first place in the America East after a resounding 5-0 win over Binghamton on Oct. 14. They just won for the fourth time in five matches by knocking off Dartmouth, 2-1, in Hanover, N.H. on Oct. 17.
• Yaniv Bazini is second in the conference with seven goals scored, while Nick Lockerman is third with six assists. Bazini has scored a goal in each of UVM's last two games.  
• The Catamounts have only allowed seven goals through 14 games. Owen Jack has seven shutouts on the campaign.

 
THE ALL-TIME SERIES

• Vermont leads the all-time series, 12-7-3, but UMBC stunned the Catamounts, 2-1, in 2022.
• Taylor Calheira tied the game in the 83' at Retriever Soccer Park last Oct. 22 and Ryan Becher converted a PK with 1:34 remaining to rally the Retrievers to snap an eight-game winless streak versus Vermont.  
• UMBC's last victory in Burlington occurred in 2013, a 2-1 triumph. Vermont is 4-0-1 in the last five contests at Virtue Field.

 
 UP NEXT

• UMBC has two games remaining on the schedule as America East play winds to a thrilling conclusion. The Retrievers will play at NJIT on Friday, Oct. 27 and host Binghamton on Tuesday, Oct. 31 on Senior Night.