Baltimore, Md.-- UMBC men's soccer only needed a first half goal from Matt Bailey (Stevensville, Md./Saints Peter and Paul) to down Binghamton 1-0 on Saturday. The Retrievers extend their unbeaten streak to five games, and move to 8-4-2, 3-2 AE on the year.
Neither side could get a chance on goal in the early going, with both teams putting shots off target.
The Retrievers broke through in the 22nd minute with Matt Bailey netting his third goal of the year. Bailey took a feed from Tre Pulliam (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley), who received a through ball from James Gielen (Edgewater, Md./DeMatha) and slotted it into the bottom left corner.
Jon Bell (Silver Spring, Md./Richard Montgomery) nearly doubled the score just minutes later. He made a couple of nice moves in the box, but his shot was blocked away.
The Bearcats nearly tied it, but Quantrell Jones (Baltimore, Md./Kenwood) made a sprawling save on a shot by Haris Brkovic.
The Retriever defense stood tall early on in the second half, not allowing the Bearcat offense to get going.
Nick Gumbs (Clarksburg, Md./Damascus) had a good chance to double the lead, but his shot went just wide of the cage in the 70th minute.
Binghamton had plenty of chances late, but Jones and the Retriever defense kept the ball out of the net, holding on for a 1-0 victory.
UMBC was outshot by the Bearcats 15-10 and 8-1 in shots on goal with the Retrievers scoring on the only shot they put on net.
The Retrievers earned eight corner kicks, surrendering just three to Binghamton.
There were 32 fouls called, with 18 coming against the Bearcats and 14 against the Retrievers.
Jones stopped all eight shots he faced in the win, the most by any Retriever keeper this year. He moves to 5-0-1 on the year.
Chris Shutler surrendered one goal and drops to 3-7-2 on the year.
UMBC will close out their four game home stand with the final regular season home match of the year on Tuesday against George Washington. The match will also serve as senior night, as the Retrievers will honor seven seniors pregame. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.