The Fairleigh Dickinson curse continued to haunt the UMBC men's soccer team yesterday.

For the third straight season, the defensive-minded Knights knocked the Retrievers out of the Northeast Conference tournament, this time in a semifinal by taking a penalty kick shootout, 3-2, after 110 minutes of scoreless play in Catonsville.

Third-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson advanced to tomorrow's noon title game against top-seed Long Island University, which beat Robert Morris, 3-0, with Oskar Tilly scoring all the goals.

UMBC, which finished with an 11-6-3 record, has not beaten Fairleigh Dickinson since joining the Northeast, going 0-5-3.

"They're very talented and had the whole team back that made the national quarterfinals," Retrievers coach Pete Caringi said. "They find a way to win. Every time we play them we have opportunities and just can't cash in."

All-NEC forward Derek McElligott (Greater Christian Grace Academy) took UMBC's first shot of the shootout with Knights goalkeeper Andrew Nucifora making the stop. UMBC was trailing 3-2 when keeper Brian Rowland, another all-NEC first teamer, made a do-or-die stop. But on the next Retrievers shot, Alex Wilmot fired wide, and the game was over.

UMBC had the better chances in regulation. Then, in the first overtime, Nucifora made a kick save of a drive by McElligott.

"The ball hit a defender's foot first," said McElligott, who led the league in scoring. "The goalie made a great save. We had almost all the chances, and that was the best of them."

Fairleigh Dickinson officially played its eighth tie and 10th overtime, both school records, while extending its league-tournament winning streak to five.

Caringi was not bemoaning the outcome, because only two seniors had important roles on the team, one of them Rowland, who ended his career with a school-record 25 shutouts, 11 this season.

"There's something about FDU that jinxes us or something," McElligott said. "We wanted to be the first team to beat them. It was a motivational thing. Now we have to look back and make an excuse about a curse."

Shots: FDU-16; UMBC--15. Saves: FDU-Nucifora 6; UMBC-Rowland 7.