Washington, D.C. – Senior striker Darius Madison (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored a pair of goals, including the game-winning penalty kick in the 68th minute as the Retrievers rallied from two scores down to edge George Washington, 3-2, at GW Soccer Field.

The Retrievers snapped a two-game slide and two-game scoreless streak with the outburst and improved to 4-2-1 on the season, while GW slipped to 2-5-0.

The come-from-behind win marked the second time in the young season that the Retrievers have rallied from two scores down to earn a result. In the opener, UMBC fell behind Fairfield, 2-0, before tying the game up at 2-all. The last time that a UMBC men’s soccer team rallied from two goals down to win occurred in October of 1997, when they erased a 3-1 deficit to defeat Coastal Carolina, 4-3.

The Retrievers, playing their first afternoon contest of the year, were out-of-sorts early, as they did not manage a shot for the first 40 minutes of the game and conceded two goals. The hosts scored in the 20th and 32nd minutes and looked like they would take a comfortable cushion to the break.

With time winding down, reserve forward Kennedy O’Shea (South Riding, Va.) served a ball into the box and Madison broke a UMBC scoring drought of nearly 253 minutes by heading it home into the left portion of the net.

The Retrievers tied the score early in the second half off a corner kick. Senior Michael Scott (Fife, Scotland) took the corner and sent it to the middle of the box, where freshman Riley Collins (Parkville, Md./Loyola-Blakefield) got a head on it and got it beyond GW netminder Thor Arne Hofs. O’Shea completed the play by heading it the last yard into the goal and knotting the score in the 54th minute.  

UMBC completed the comeback, when sophomore Cormac Noel (Todmorden, England) drew a foul driving to the goal just inside the right end line. Madison took the attempt and recorded  UMBC’s first penalty kick of the season to give the visitors the advantage.  

GW’s late comeback effort was hurt when they lost a player after a second yellow card in 84th minute.

The Retrievers were outshot for just the second time in 2015, taking seven shots and allowing eight. But they outshot GW, 5-2, in the second half and dealt with the Colonials’ seven corners (7-4) in the contest.

UMBC junior netminder Billy Heavner (Landisville, Pa.) made three early saves and recorded the win with four in the game. Hofs responded with three for his side.

Madison, who leads UMBC with five goals on the season,  recorded his first two-goal game of the season and the second of his career. The other occurred in 2013 when the former Virginia Cavalier netted a pair versus Notre Dame.  O’Shea recorded his first collegiate multiple-point game with a goal and a helper.

UMBC returns home to face George Mason at Retriever Soccer Park on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 p.m.   

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