Sophomore Mike Kamon scored three goals and junior goalie Dominik Nogic backstopped the defensive effort in Army’s 9-5 lacrosse victory over 15th-ranked Maryland-Baltimore County Saturday at Shea Stadium here. With the win, the Black Knights snapped a two-game losing streak and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time this season.

Previously 0-5 against teams in the USILA Top 20, Army scored the game’s first three goals and never trailed in the game. It was the first-ever meeting between the Black Knights and Retrievers.

Junior Tim Pearson scored the game’s opening tally 4:42 into the contest, then 1:21 later threaded a tough pass through traffic to sophomore John Ryan for a 2-0 lead. Kamon made it 3-0 with his first of three unassisted goals with 6:32 remaining in the opening period.

UMBC got on the board on Scott Steele’s 15-yard shot in the opening quarter and Joey Kesterman followed with an unassisted score to get the Retrievers back within one. That was as close as UMBC would come the rest of the day.

Junior Jimmy Vlahakis scored with 6.1 seconds left in the first period to make it 4-2. In the opening minutes of the second period Vlahakis fed long-stick senior middie Ryan Hanrahan for a fastbreak goal, and after a goal by Josh Hahn less than a minute later, Kamon and Pearson scored the last two of the half to make it 7-3 at intermission.

The two teams alternated goals in a second half dominated by the defenses.

The Retrievers had several possessions late in the game, but the Army defense kept the ball away from the crease and Nogic made four of his 14 saves in the final two minutes, all on long shots.

Kamon’s hat trick was his second of his career, while Pearson extended his school-record career-assist total to 89.