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Bowling Green State University Athletics
UMBC Slip Past Falcons
September 20, 2005 | Men's Soccer
Sept. 18, 2005
BALTIMORE, Md. - In a 2-1 final, the University of Maryland Baltimore County not only took a victory over the Falcons, but also, the first victory in the history of the competing schools.
UMBC took a 1-0 lead with just 21 seconds remaining in the first half when forward Kevin Gnatiko assisted Kevin Mezzadra's close range header.
"At half time I told the guys we were playing well but needed to create more chances and things would come to us," said head coach Fred Thompson. The Falcons took his words to heart and at the 56:37 mark, senior Omari aldridge added a header of his own on freshman Justin Kim's direct kick.
"Omari's goal gave us a needed offensive thrust," said Thompson. "He played well today and was exceptional running the right wing."
The even score lasted for 10 minutes until UMBC's two-time America East all conference defender Eric Mahon added the third and final header of the match to push the Retrievers past the Falcons.
Making his first appearance of the season, senior Brandon Decker recorded five saves in 90:00 minutes facing 11 shots.
"The keepers are pretty even across the board and Brandon made a great save to open the game. We wanted to mix things up a little not only to give Paul Shoemaker a rest, but also to throw UMBC off too," said Thompson.
The Falcons will return to action Friday, Sept. 23 when they begin their home season as they host the Ohio State University Buckeyes. Kick-off is set for 5:00.
