UMBC Men’s Soccer Rolls Past Presbyterian 5-1 to Improve to 2-0
UMBC men’s soccer continued its strong start to the 2026 season Friday night, scoring five unanswered goals in a 5-1 victory over Presbyterian at Retriever Soccer Park.
The Retrievers improved to 2-0 after opening the season with a 3-2 victory over Loyola Maryland in the inaugural Blake Elliott Cup. UMBC dominated nearly every statistical category against Presbyterian, finishing with a 29-5 advantage in shots, a 9-1 edge in shots on goal and a commanding 12-0 margin in corner kicks.
Presbyterian Scores First
Despite UMBC controlling much of the action, Presbyterian struck first.
Gabe Carvalho gave the Blue Hose a 1-0 advantage in the 13th minute, finishing from roughly 15 yards after receiving a pass from Mo Alahmad. It would be Presbyterian’s only shot on goal of the entire match.
UMBC continued applying pressure and eventually broke through in the 36th minute.
Aidom Tadesse collected a feed from Shawn Shvartshtein and scored his first goal of the season to pull the Retrievers even at 1-1.
The match changed dramatically four minutes later when Presbyterian defender Alex Walker was shown a red card in the 40th minute, forcing the Blue Hose to play a man down.
UMBC took advantage almost immediately.
Two Goals in 70 Seconds Put UMBC in Control
Adamo Pantaleo scored his first collegiate goal at 41:53, finishing an opportunity created by Abdi Bahur to give the Retrievers their first lead of the night.
Just 69 seconds later, freshman Nico Banks made it 3-1.
The 6-foot-7 Banks rose above the defense and headed a Jonas Nistad corner kick into the net at 43:02. It was also Banks’ first collegiate goal.
What had been a 1-0 Presbyterian lead less than nine minutes earlier became a 3-1 UMBC advantage heading into halftime.
The Retrievers finished the opening half with a 14-3 advantage in shots.
Abdul Kamara Adds Two More
UMBC kept attacking after halftime.
Flynn Holdem helped create the fourth goal when he made a turn near the edge of the penalty area and was pulled down by a Presbyterian defender in the 61st minute.
After a VAR review upheld the penalty decision, Abdul Kamara stepped to the spot and converted the penalty kick to make it 4-1.
Kamara was not finished.
Less than eight minutes later, he scored again, lifting a chipped effort into the net at 68:04 for his second goal of the game and third through his first two matches as a Retriever.
UMBC nearly added another when Nick Lentz hit the woodwork in the 72nd minute, but the five-goal total stood.
The five goals were UMBC’s most in a match since a 5-1 victory over UMass Lowell on Oct. 8, 2022.
Retrievers Completely Control the Numbers
UMBC’s dominance extended far beyond the final score.
The Retrievers attempted 29 shots compared with five by Presbyterian and put nine attempts on goal. Presbyterian goalkeeper made four saves, while UMBC goalkeeper Jackson Boonmast did not have to make a save because Carvalho’s goal represented Presbyterian’s lone shot on target.
UMBC also generated 12 corner kicks without allowing Presbyterian to take one.
The performance continued an aggressive start to the season for the Retrievers. Through their first two completed matches, UMBC outshot Loyola and Presbyterian by a combined 56-12 margin.
Every healthy UMBC field player also appeared in Friday night’s victory, giving the coaching staff an opportunity to distribute minutes across the roster.
Fast Start Building Confidence
The win followed an emotional season-opening victory over Loyola Maryland in front of 3,806 fans at Retriever Soccer Park.
Gunder Miller, Holdem and Kamara scored in that 3-2 win, while Holdem’s performance helped him earn America East Rookie of the Week honors.
Against Presbyterian, the offensive production came from several different places.
Tadesse, Pantaleo and Banks each scored for the first time in 2026, while Kamara continued his strong start with two goals.
That kind of scoring balance could become particularly important once UMBC reaches America East play.
MSB Take
UMBC could not have asked for a much stronger offensive showing.
Going down 1-0 early could have changed the complexion of the match, but the Retrievers stayed aggressive instead of panicking. Once Tadesse equalized, UMBC completely took control.
The most encouraging part is the number of different players producing.
Pantaleo and Banks scored their first collegiate goals, Tadesse got his first of the year and Kamara continued to establish himself as an immediate scoring threat. UMBC already had three different scorers against Loyola, and that offensive depth makes the Retrievers much more difficult to defend.
The shot numbers may be even more impressive than the five goals. Outshooting opponents 56-12 through two games reflects a team that is spending significant stretches of matches in attacking areas and consistently creating opportunities.
Presbyterian’s red card obviously helped UMBC pull away Friday, but the Retrievers were already generating chances before the Blue Hose went down a man.
A 2-0 start is encouraging. More importantly, UMBC is showing early signs that it has enough attacking depth to make some noise in the America East.
The Retrievers will look to continue building momentum when they host George Washington at Retriever Soccer Park.
