MEN’S SOCCER BLANKS NO. 25 UMBC, 2-0

BALTIMORE, MD. - A pair of late goals by Chris Banks (Westborough, Mass.) and Charlie Roche (Haverhill, Mass.), propelled the University of New Hampshire men's soccer team to its fourth victory in the last six games, defeating the No. 25 ranked UMBC Retrievers, 2-0, Saturday afternoon at UMBC Soccer Stadium.

The Wildcats improve to 5-5-1 and 2-0-0 in America East play, while the Retrievers fall to 10-2-0 and 1-2 against conference opponents. With the win, the Wildcats defeat a nationally ranked team on the road for the second time in four days, as they defeated No. 15 Boston University, 2-1, on Wednesday. As for the Retrievers, they suffer their first home loss and shutout of the season, losing for the second time in the last three games.

After a dead-locked first half that featured just seven shots between both squads, the action picked up in the second stanza with the Retrievers recording the first four shots in the half, but none could find the back of the net, as UNH goalkeeper Colin O'Donnell (Springfield, Mass.) turned away UMBC's two on goal attempts.

Following a strong defensive stance, New Hampshire would catch fire offensively as Banks picked up the ball on a breakaway in the 59th minute but missed right of the net.

Moments later, Jordan Thomas (Mohnton, Pa.) picked up the ball and forwarded it to a wide open Banks on the right wing, this time the forward wouldn't be denied as he knocked the ball into the far left hand corner of the net from 14 yards out at 60:27. Thomas was credited with the assist on the play. As for Banks, who compiled a team best three shots in the game, he remains the team's leading goal scorer with four on the season.

The Wildcats wouldn't wait long to strike again, as Dylan George (Bangor, Maine) lofted a ball over to Roche who punched it into the lower left hand corner of the net past the hands of UMBC goalkeeper Phil Saunders at 69:14 to secure the win for New Hampshire.

UMBC responded by tallying two more shots in the half, but missed high on both attempts. The Retrievers finished with seven shots in the second half of play, but only two of those strikes were on goal. UMBC tallied 11 shots in the game, while UNH totaled eight, including five in the second half.

O'Donnell compiled four saves in the contest and has now collected four or more saves in each of the last three games. As for Saunders, he tallied three saves in the match.

Thomas posted two shots in the game, while Josh Bronner (Haverhill, Mass.), Roche and George each tallied one shot apiece for the Wildcats. As for UMBC, Levi Houapeu led the team with three shots, with Dave Vaeth, Andrew Bulls and Andy Streilein each notching two shots.

The Wildcats return to action when they return to Durham to take on the Hartford Hawks, Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 3 p.m. at Lewis Fields.