Men’s Soccer Meets No. 6 UMBC in America East Semifinals on Wednesday Night

ALBANY, N.Y.- University at Albany men’s soccer (6-10-4) continues its quest for an America East championship on Wednesday night against No. 6 UMBC at 7 p.m. The Purple & Gold is now on a two-game winning streak on the road.

The Great Danes downed Binghamton 2-1 in Vestal last Wednesday to clinch the No. 5 seed in the America East Tournament. In Burlington against the No. 4 seed on Saturday, UAlbany produced its highest single-game goal total since 2008, beating Vermont 5-1. Midfielder Pomare Te Anau had two goals in that win, and was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for his efforts. UAlbany went up 5-0 at one point against the Catamounts. Co-captains Dominic McGarr and Thomas Manz also got in on the scoring, tallying one goal each. The fifth goal was a Vermont own goal. Anthony Rozzano, Bernardo Mattos, Manz and Philip Persson all recorded assists in the win. Mattos is riding a two-game streak with at least one point.

The freshman tallied the game-winner against Binghamton. Brandon Wilson leads the Great Danes with nine points, including four goals and one assist. Manz has totaled eight points with three goals and two assists. Twelve different Great Danes have notched at least one point this season, with Manz as the only senior among the group. In their regular season meeting earlier this season, the Great Danes forced the Retrievers into a 0-0 double overtime tie on their homecoming weekend in Baltimore. It was UMBC’s first tie and second shutout at the time.

The Retrievers have won six of their last seven games by one goal en route to a 14-1-2 record. The Great Danes are undefeated against nationally ranked teams this season. Trevor Gorman’s squad tied UMBC in October when the Retrievers were ranked No. 8 in the country. UAlbany also downed then-No. 22 Fairleigh Dickinson in their opener at Bob Ford Field. It was the program’s first victory over a nationally ranked opponent since joining Division I. UAlbany tallied 10 points in America East regular season play, marking the highest league point-total under Trevor Gorman.

AMERICA EAST HISTORY For the fourth time in five years, the No. 5 seed has advanced to the America East semfiinals. Trevor Gorman is making his second appearance in the semifinals since taking the reigns of the Great Danes in 2011. Since UAlbany joined the league in 2001, the No. 1 seed has lost in the semifinal round five times, including each of the last four years. Last year, Vermont was the No. 1 seed and lost to New Hampshire.

SCOUTING UMBC The Retrievers are led by two-time America East Striker of the Year Pete Caringi III. He is the first player to earn the award two years in a row. Kadeem Dacres was named America East Midfielder of the Year and Oumar Ballo earned the league’s Defender of the Year award. Caringi has scored 10 goals this season, but hasn’t scored since a 2-1 win at Hartford on Oct. 5. UMBC is on a seven-game unbeaten streak, and its only loss was a 1-0 double overtime contest against Delaware. The Retrievers had their 18-game unbeaten streak snapped by the Blue Hens. The last time UMBC lost was to UAlbany 2-1 on Oct. 10, 2012. The game will be streamed live from Retriever Park through America East.tv.