STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- The No. 1 Stony Brook men's soccer team fell to No. 5 UMBC, 1-0 in the America East Semifinal on Wednesday night from LaValle Stadium. With the loss, the Seawolves have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Quoting head coach Ryan Anatol
"Ultimately, I thought we played well. We wanted to be aggressive and dictate the game and I thought we did a good job of that. I thought the game was going the way we wanted it to go, but we didn't score and a mistake cost us," said Anatol. "UMBC battled and I give them credit. It's a game of inches and unfortunately it didn't go our way tonight."

"I'm very proud that Serge and Martieon can leave with a season where they get to lift an America East Regular Season Championship. That's something that they both played a big part in accomplishing and it's something they can be proud of. Those two guys have had a huge impact on the program and I'm thankful for the work they have done over the course of the four years and I'm looking forward to their continued success long after they leave."

Highlights

• Freshman All-Rookie team member Jack Valderrabano (New York, N.Y.) took the first shot of the night in the fourth minute but missed high.
• The Retrievers got two shots off in the 15th minute but both attempts were blocked by Stony Brook defenders.
• UMBC's James Gielen took a shot on goal in the 38th minute but a Stony Brook defender made a game-saving stop.
• Freshman Rondell Payne nearly gave the Seawolves the lead late in the first half but his header attempt missed wide.
• The Seawolves outshot UMBC, 8-6 in the first half of play.
• Early in the second half, the Seawolves scored but it was called back. The referees ruled the ball out of bounds on the pass that led to the goal. 
• UMBC scored the only goal of the contest in the 60th minute when a pass slipped through the hands of goalkeeper Christian Miesch (Brig, Switzerland), giving Jordan Dove an open look at the net. It was Dove's first goal of the season.
• The Seawolves got three shots off in the final seven minutes but were unable to find the back of the net. 

With the loss, the Seawolves' 2018 season comes to an end. Stony Brook won the America East Regular Season Title and earned eleven All-Conference Awards in 2018. They will graduate two seniors: Martieon Watson (Vessigny, Trinidad) and Serge Gamwanya (Trondheim, Norway). Both four-year starters, Watson and Gamwanya played key roles in guiding the Seawolves to three postseason appearances.