BALTIMORE, Md. - UMBC scored two goals in the final 46 minutes
to come from behind to defeat Mount St. Mary's 2-1 at the Adidas
Kickoff Classic in non-conference men's soccer action on
Saturday.
Chris Wheeler (Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis Xavier) notched
his second goal of the tournament off an Eric Detzel (York,
Pa./Central York) assist in the 16th minute. Wheeler and freshman
Alex Graver (Palmerton, Pa./Palmerton) were named to the Adidas
Kickoff Classic All-Tournament team for the Mount (1-3-0) while
Chris Davis (Townsville, Australia/Kirwan State) made a season-high
six saves in the loss.
Levi Houapeu notched the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in
the 77th minute. Andrew Bullis posted his team-leading eighth goal
for the Retrievers (5-0-0) and Phil Saunders made four stops in the
winning effort.
After Mount St. Mary's took an early advantage, UMBC tied the
game right before halftime and then grabbed the lead it would not
relinquish 30 minutes into the final stanza and held on to maintain
its 12-game unbeaten streak against the Mountaineers.
Wheeler headed Mount St. Mary's only goal of the afternoon off a
free kick from Detzel at 15:09 to give the Mount a 1-0 advantage.
It marked the squad's first tally of the season in the first half
after scoring seven times in the final 16 minutes in the first
three matches.
Trailing 1-0 in the closing minutes of the first half, the
Retrievers tied the game 32 seconds before the break. Bullis found
the twine off feeders from Matt Knight and Jason McCarron at 44:28
to knot the game at 1. The game remained tied until Houapeu
converted a penalty kick at 76:39 to give UMBC a 2-1 edge.
The Mount had a couple of chances to score after Houapeu's
go-ahead score, but could not convert. Will Thomas (Mount Rainer,
Md./The Heights) missed high in the 79th minute before Wheeler gave
the Mountaineers their final scoring threat when his shot was saved
by Saunders in the 85th minute.
Mount St. Mary's returns to action at No. 16 Virginia on
Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m.