Baltimore, Md. - Matt Latham scored a career-high six goals in leading UMBC to a 12-7 victory over UAlbany in America East Conference play on Saturday, April 17 at UMBC Stadium. The Retrievers moved into a three-way tie for second place in the conference standings.
     UMBC (3-7, AE 2-1) led 3-2 early in the second half, but then exploded with four consecutive goals. Chris Jones and J.D Harkey scored eight seconds apart to start that run. Kyle Wimer, who had two goals and two assists, moved to his right behind the cage and found Jones left of the crease with 12:33 left in the period. After UAlbany was whistled for a face-off infraction, Harkey drove to the net on the restart to score his first career goal.
     The Retrievers, who have won back-to-back America East championships, pushed out to a 6-2 advantage when Latham scored from the middle of the zone on a quick-passing play where four players touched the ball. Wimer, a senior midfielder, moved around a defender and fired a shot from the left into the cage two minutes later.
     Still leading 7-3 later in the quarter, UMBC tallied a pair of goals in an 11-second span. Latham, a senior attackman, took Nick Doub's pass and spun to drill a 12-yard shot into the upper left corner. After winning the subsequent face-off, Maxx Davis sent a blast into the net from the left side. UAlbany (3-9, AE 2-1) closed within 9-4 with seven seconds remaining before the intermission. Dwayne Stewart scooped up a ground ball, drove around the cage, and found Rocky Bonitatibus on the top.
     "We lost communication (on defense) during that second quarter and they capitalized on our mistakes," UAlbany defenseman Mark Kelly said. "They hustle on the clears and pressure in tight situations."
     The Great Danes, who have dropped five straight in this facility, including a pair of league championship games, tried to work their way back into the contest in the second half. UAlbany trailed 11-5 in the third period until Dave Brock rolled inside for an unassisted goal with 3:05 to play in the period. Brock, who had three of his four goals after the break, attacked the net from the left side early in the final stanza and fired into the far top corner.
     After UAlbany misfired on several scoring chances over the next four minutes, UMBC's Latham ended any comeback attempt with 4:50 to play. He took a short right-to-left crossing pass from Rob Grimm and hit the net from the middle of the field for his 21st of the season. Grimm finished with one goal and three assists.
    "The four-goal run just takes the air out," UAlbany coach Scott Marr stated. "You can't let them get ahead of you. They were opportunistic and we were not award of the small things. They were one step ahead of us in that eight-minute stretch."
     Goalkeeper Adam Cohen had nine saves for the Retrievers, who have won 14 of their last 15 conference home games. UAlbany's brother tandem of Mark and Luke Cometti each had a goal in the opening quarter.

Paw Prints:  UMBC has won eight of the 11 meetings in this series, including four in a row ... the Retrievers are 29-6 all-time in America Conference play ... UAlbany owns a 34-11 record against America East regular-season opponents ... the Great Danes played their first game without All-America attack Brian Caufield, who will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured jaw against Vermont on April 11 ... Dave Brock tied a career-high with four goals ... the senior also scored four times against Hartford on March 31 and has multiple goals in seven consecutive games ... defenseman Brendan Gleason had a career-high five ground balls and caused three turnovers ... Stony Brook took over sole possession of first place in the America East standings with a thrilling 17-16 victory over Binghamton.

UMBC 12, UAlbany 7 (Apr 17, 2010, Baltimore, Md.)