Courtesy: UMBC Athletic Communications
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – UMBC junior midfielder Malcolm Harris scored in the 70th minute and the Retrievers advanced to the third round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship with a 1-0 victory over the No. 4 seeded Maryland Terrapins before a spirited crowd of 3,776 at Ludwig Field.
It is the first time a UMBC Division I team has advanced this far in a national tournament and first time an America East team has gotten past the second round since Hartford reached the quarterfinals in 1996.
UMBC will face No. 13 Louisville, a 2-1 winner over Saint Louis in Kentucky on Sunday, Nov. 30. The game time will be announced early this week.
"In the second half, we responded really well," said head coach Pete Caringi. "We played much more like we are capable of playing. We put a little bit more pressure on them. I liked our chances the more we got into the second half."
After being outplayed in the first half, UMBC came out much more aggressively to start the second half. The Retrievers took six of the second half's first seven shots and seniors Jordan Becker and Geaton Caltabiano missed on scoring chances in the 52nd and 66th minutes.
But UMBC broke through moments later. Harris loosened the ball from several players around the 25 yard line and senior forward Kay Banjo took control of the ball on the right side. He sent a ball across the box, which glanced off Terrapin netminder Zach Steffen and Harris ran onto the ball, and deposited into the net from eight yards out.
"When Kay shot, I just followed up, we got a lucky bounce and I was in the right spot at the right time," said Harris, who tallied his second goal of the year.
Red-shirt sophomore netminder Billy Heavner, who made three outstanding saves in the first half, relied on his defense to hold the Terrapins at bay down the stretch.
The Retrievers held Maryland scoreless in 200 minutes of action in 2014. UMBC outshot the hosts, 9-4, in the final 45 minutes and 12-9 in the contest.
UMBC (13-5-4) is now unbeaten in eight consecutive games, while Maryland's 11-game unbeaten streak was halted and they finished the campaign at 13-6-3.
Maryland had an edge in ball possession and dangerous chances in the first half, but Heavner was equal to the challenges. He punched away a hooking free kick in the 15th minute and made a tough, diving save on a Mikey Ambrose effort seven minutes later. The Retrievers had a few replies, but shots from inside 25 yards from senior forward Kay Banjo (Upper Marlboro, Md./Largo) and junior midfielder Joseph Pratt sailed high over the net.