PRINCETON, N.J. -- For the eighth time in 10 years, an America East men's soccer team is going to the second round of the NCAA College Cup. UMBC scored a pair of unanswered goals to earn a 2-1 victory over Princeton in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer tournament Thursday evening at Roberts Stadium.
The Retrievers, whose win was their first ever in the NCAA tournament, will face 12th-seeded William & Mary in the second round on Sunday at 5 p.m. in Williamsburg, Va.
Princeton (13-4-1), which had won 12 straight games coming in, jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Antoine Hoppenot's goal in the 31st minute.
UMBC (12-4-3) evened the score before halftime. Senior Levi Houapeu, the America East Striker of the Year who earned Most Outstanding Player honors of the conference championship just five days ago, sent home a rebound off a free kick in the 42nd minute. Andrew Bulls' blast from 25 yards out, came right to Houapeu, who snuck just inside the right post for his 15th goal of the year.
The game remained 1-1 until there were under 15 minutes to play. That's when UMBC's Andrew Bulls, a first-team All-America East selection, flew up the right side and converted a feed form Houapeu to put his team up 2-1 in the 78th minute.
UMBC goalkeeper Dan Louisignau, who had 10 saves in the contest, preserved the win with three stops in the game's final 10 minutes.
The
Retrievers will attempt to become the first America East squad to advance past
the second round of the NCAA Men’s Soccer tournament since 1996 when Hartford advanced to the quarterfinals.