UMBC men defeat Stony Brook 3-0, earn No. 3 seed in America East tournament

BALTIMORE (Via UMBC) – UMBC sophomore midfielder Gregg Hauck (Linthicum, Md./North County) tallied his third game-winning goal in America East play and freshman midfielder Patrick Jean-Gilles (Woodbridge, Va.) scored a pair of second half goals as the host Retrievers blanked Stony Brook, 3-0, in pristine autumn conditions at Retriever Soccer Park.

The Retrievers (10-5-3, 3-2-2 AE) will be the No. 3 seed in the America East Conference and host No. 6 New Hampshire on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 7:00 p.m. Stony Brook (7-7-3, 3-3-1 AE) earned the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Binghamton.

UMBC has won three consecutive games, all by shutout and won for the 50th time in 13 America East seasons (50-33-16). Junior netminder Billy Heavner (Landisville, Pa.) made seven saves to earn his seventh shutout of the season.

The Retrievers had not scored a first half goal since Oct. 17, a span of four games, and struggled making connections in the first 10 minutes. But they won a deep throw-in in the 17th minute and freshman defender Kyle Saunderson (Laurel, Md./Reservoir) lofted a throw toward the near left post, where Hauck rose up over a Seawolf defender and headed it past netminder Jason Orban and just inside the post.

The goal was Hauck’s fourth of the season and the last three have been game-winners in all of UMBC’s 2015 AE victories over Albany, U.Mass Lowell and Stony Brook.

The Retrievers played with great energy for the remainder of the half, outshooting SBU, 8-3, and taking that 1-0 advantage into the break.

Early in the second half, Jean-Gilles displayed the skill that has earned him the reputation as one of the nation’s top freshmen. Just 2:57 into the frame, he took a pass from sophomore midfielder Sammy Kahsai (Mount Rainier, Md.), brought the ball into the box, beat a defender on the left edge of the area, and drilled a left-footed shot past a diving Orbin and into the far right corner of the net.

Five minutes later, Stony Brook created its best chance of the night, but Heavner got a hand on a drive by Martin Giordano and knocked it over the goal in the 53rd minute. He would also deny Thibault Duval in the 62nd minute, charging out to repel a shot from 14 yards out.

Jean-Gilles iced the game in the 78’, taking the ball 35 yards from goal, driving through defenders and drilling a shot from 20 yards out inside the right post. The goals were the second and third of the year for the holding midfielder and produced UMBC’s second two-goal effort of the season. Darius Madison scored twice in a 3-2 win over GW on Sept. 27.

UMBC had not scored multiple goals in a game since a 2-1 victory over Howard on Sept. 29.

The Retrievers outshot the Seawolves, 18-8, and forced Orban into six saves.

Albany defeated host Binghamton, 3-1, to earn the regular season title and top seed in the tournament. The Great Danes and Vermont Catamounts, a 3-1 victor at UNH, will have byes and host the Wednesday, Nov. 11 semifinals.

UMBC tied New Hampshire, (10-4-3, 3-3-1) 1-1, in double overtime, at Retriever Soccer Park on October 17.

The Retrievers have won 10 or more games for four consecutive seasons and six times in the last seven campaigns.