Conference

The Retrievers (18-0-1) were on the attack from the outset, and cashed in when Andy Wells’ (Essex, England/The Sweyne School) header off a corner kick hit off the crossbar and Halter tapped in the rebound for the game’s first score at 12:18.

Halter tallied for the second time at the 24:38 mark, taking a long cross from Matt Joseph (Baltimore, MD/Calvert Hall) before heading the ball past Monmouth goalie Christian Zentner (Bietigheim Bliss, Germany/Gymnasium Im Ellental) to give UMBC a 2-0 edge.

The Retrievers kept up the pressure and made it 3-0 at 30:27 when Halter’s shot off a corner kick was redirected by Billy Nelson (Abingdon, MD/Bel Air), who tickled the twines from past the near post from two yards out.

Up 3-0 at the half, UMBC struck again at 52:19 as Giuliano Celenza (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley) headed a James Hamilton (West Yorkshire, England/Hipperholme & Lightcliffe) cross in into the upper corner of the net. Celenza, who was recently named the Northeast Conference Player of the Year and is ranked first in the nation in goals per game and second in scoring, now has 22 goals on the season.

The Retrievers closed out the scoring just seven minutes later, as Ty Engram (Phoenix, AZ/Brophy College Prep) scored his 16th goal of the season, tapping in a rebound off a shot by Matt Gormley (Bethesda, MD/Walt Whitman) at 59:16.

UMBC goaltenders Brian Rowland (Toronto, Ontario/York Memorial) and Tom Wunk (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Hebron) combined for the shutout, as the Retrievers outshot Monmouth, 21-5.

After Knights’ goalie Vytas Lenkutis (Vilnius, Lithuania/Gabijos) punched out a shot after a free kick, Gladwin took advantage of the rebound, firing a shot past a prone Lenkutis to give the Mount an early 1-0 lead at the 6:50 mark of the first half.

Gladwin played a role in the Mount’s second and final goal, serving up a cross to forward Jon Hooker (Woodbridge, VA/C.D. Hylton), who headed it near post past Lenkutis at 20:43.

Mount goalie Rob Ray (Baltimore, MD/Dundalk), a first team all-NEC selection, stopped three shots to post his seventh shutout of the season.

The Mount (11-7-2) struck first off a counterattack, as senior midfielder Simon Hodkin (Droylesden, England/Xaverian College) converted Marty Stiteler’s (Camp Hill, PA/Trinity) low cross to the far post past UMBC netminder Brian Rowland (Toronto, Ontario/York Memorial) at 22:41 of the first half.

UMBC (19-0-1), which outshot the Mount 10-2 in the opening stanza, kept the pressure on before converting at 41:01 when Ty Engram’s (Phoenix, AZ/Brophy Prep) cross resulted in a scramble in front of the net before the ball was banged in by Tournament Most Valuable Player Pat Halter (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Hebron) to even the score at 1-1.

Halter, who did not score a goal during the regular season, recorded two ` goals and two assists in UMBC’s 5-0 semifinal win over Monmouth and tallied a tournament series-high eight points.

UMBC controlled the tempo of the contest throughout much of the game as the Mount was forced to rely on quick counterattacks to generate offense. For the match, UMBC outshot the Mount, 19-6.

The Retrievers have won a school record 13 consecutive matches and are currently ranked #11 by Soccer America and #19 by the NSCAA.