BALTIMORE — Loyola University Maryland erased a two-goal deficit and continued to battle until the final whistle Sunday, but UMBC held on for a 3-2 victory over the Greyhounds at Retriever Soccer Park.
The Greyhounds showed plenty of fight after falling behind early, scoring twice in the final 35 minutes. Nino Venezia and Nick Laffey provided the goals for Loyola, which nearly completed the comeback in the final minutes.
UMBC controlled much of the opening half, outshooting Loyola 14-1 and taking a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute when Gunder Miller finished a chance assisted by Lance Talley and Nico Banks.
Loyola goalkeeper Connor O'Keefe kept the Greyhounds within striking distance, making one save before giving way to Felix Huebner to start the second half.
Venezia pulled the Greyhounds even in the 56th minute, scoring his first goal of the season to make it 1-1.
UMBC answered almost immediately, though, with Flynn Holdem scoring less than a minute later to restore the Retrievers' lead.
After UMBC earned a penalty kick in the 82nd minute, Abdul Kamara converted to give the Retrievers a 3-1 advantage. The Greyhounds responded just 32 seconds later when Laffey found the net for his first goal of the season, cutting the deficit to one.
Loyola continued pressing in the closing minutes. Lukas Cortes forced a save from UMBC goalkeeper Joseph Pollard shortly after Laffey's goal, and Jeremiah McGuire sent a shot high with less than four minutes remaining.
Despite the late pressure, UMBC managed to preserve the victory.
The Greyhounds were outshot 27-7 overall but made their limited chances count, putting three shots on target and converting two of them. Huebner made three saves in the second half, while Pollard stopped one of Loyola's three shots on goal.
Loyola also held a slight 52% edge in possession and finished with two corner kicks to UMBC's five.
The loss dropped the Greyhounds to 0-2-0 on the season, while UMBC improved to 1-0-0.
