LOWELL, MA – Senior striker Taylor Calheira's goal in the 88^th minute gave the visiting UMBC men's soccer team a thrilling, 2-1, America East Conference victory against the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Saturday evening at Cushing Field. The Retrievers are now tied for the top spot in the conference standings with NJIT.
 
"Road wins in this conference are extremely hard to come by so I couldn't be prouder of the guys tonight," said Head Coach Anthony Adams. "We kept our composure throughout the match and were eventually rewarded for it."
 
UMBC (6-2-3, 2-0-1) dominated the game in every facet but found themselves trailing the hosts, 1-0, after sophomore forward Michael Oliveri headed in a free kick from Inaki Esnaola in the 63'.
 
The Retrievers played nearly the entire final forty-five with an extra-man advantage as junior midfielder Santiago Delfino was given a red card just seconds into the stanza. The Dawgs finally took advantage of their opportunity and got the equalizer when the red-hot Alek Wroblewski, a senior forward, scored his fifth marker with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. Senior midfielder William Forby was credited with the assist as he found Wroblewsli at the top of the right side of the box. Wroblewski, who has three goals in his last two contests, advanced the ball a couple of yards and put a low shot through a couple of defenders that was on target. The ball snuck through the arms of UMass Lowell goalkeeper Adam Henry (7 saves), who attempted to make a diving save to his left.
 
Calheira ripped his conference-leading ninth goal of the season to give UMBC the go-ahead tally with 2:22 left in the contest. The reigning America East Offensive Player of the Year was draped by two defenders in the box but won a loose ball and then sent a rocket to the lower right corner of the net from seven yards out. Senior forward Loc San initiated the chance by playing the ball into the box from the left side. Calheira now has three game-winning goals this season and 10 for his career. He also moved into an 8th-place tie on UMBC's goals' list with 31 along with Bryan Bugarin '95 and Bobby Wagner '93. In addition, the Towson native needs just one more point to move into the top-ten on UMBC's all-time scoring list.
 
UMBC, who broke a three-game losing streak at UMass Lowell (2-6-2, 0-3 AE), fired 15 shots and allowed the hosts to get off just three of their own. In addition, the Retrievers attempted a season-high 15 corner kicks while the River Hawks only managed two.

The Dawgs will welcome nationally ranked New Hampshire next Saturday evening on Homecoming at 7:00 p.m. at Retriever Soccer Park.