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Confident and healthy, Retriever soccer ready for New Hampshire
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For the UMBC soccer team, the sports adage of finishing strong isn't the mantra.
The Retrievers say that starting strong is the key to upsetting the New Hampshire Wildcats, the America East Conference Tournament's No. 1 seed.
"The first 15 minutes are probably the most important to us," said junior back Chris Williams, whose return in the first round of the AEC Tournament sured up a UMBC defense that allowed Binghamton to take only seven shots in a 2-1 Retriever win. The previous week, the Bearcats had defeated the Retrievers 4-0 in the regular season's final game.
But Williams wasn't in the lineup for that regular season game, and hadn't been since sustaining an injury at the end of the team's first matchup with the Wildcats.
The injury bug bit the Retrievers hard around midseason, and coach Pete Caringi was forced to start six freshmen in a 3-0 loss at Hartford prior to the Binghamton game.
Already a young team that doesn't start a single senior, UMBC was forced to weather the damage as it finished the regular season losing by a combined score of 7-0 on the road.
Caringi said the injury and the long road trips to Hartford and Binghamton "took its toll in the end," but with Williams and John Paul Waraksa back in the lineup against the Bearcats on Saturday, UMBC finally regained some of the flow it had lost.
Caringi said that Williams' absence was especially tough for the team to deal with, as it forced players to step out of roles they were comfortable playing.
"That was a big, big blow to us," Caringi said of losing Williams, adding that it's tough to succeed when a team is forced into "playing as many freshmen as we were in big conference games on the road.
"It was a new experience for all of us."
While Caringi has Williams and Waraksa back, the status of Jason McCarron is still up in the air. The coach said the sophomore made the trip with the team to Durham, but called the sophomore back questionable for Wednesday's game.
Despite being forced to play without three starting backs in the second half of the season, UMBC has stayed afloat thanks to a pair of dominant scorers. Forward Andrew Bulls and midfielder Levi Houapeu are Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation in scoring, respectively. Each are tied with 15 goals apiece.
But it is Houapeu who has carried the Retrievers through conference games. Caringi said that with Bulls' incredible start, he became a marked man on the pitch.
Houapeu, who got off to fine start himself, nonetheless became the beneficiary of the extra attention paid to Bulls. Houapeu has twice scored three goals in a game this season.
"I think he's the heart of the team," Caringi said of Houapeu. "He really took last year personally...he realizes the importance of the game and the importance of the season."
Houapeu, though, won't take the credit. He just says he's been in "right spot at the right time."
But the junior does acknowledge that he must be a leader for this young Retriever team.
"I tell them they have to be focused and stay focused," Houapeu said, adding that the Wildcats -- especially in Durham -- are a tough team to beat.
Like Williams, though, Houapeu has confidence in his team. Houapeu said playing physical from the start is key, and the Retrievers are in position to avenge their earlier loss to New Hampshire.
"If we can get the first goal," he said.
