Brooke Clagett probably could have celebrated more given the circumstances.
The freshman forward had just bagged her second goal against Fairmont State on Aug. 20. It was her fourth goal in just her third collegiate game for UMBC women’s soccer. Still, as the ball hit the net, Clagett doled out a few high fives and hugs, then went back to midfield to go again. It’s a mentality rare in a player so young, and for one who scores so much.
“I’m just naturally that way on the field,” Clagett said. “After I score, I want to be ready for the next play.”
The Frederick native and former Oakdale High School star has made a major impact since arriving on campus this summer with her sister and midfielder, Lexi. The sisters have played a part in helping UMBC get off to its best start in more than a decade. The Retrievers were 9-3-2 overall and 3-1 in the America East heading into their game against Binghamton on Oct. 11.
Head coach Rick Stainton, now in his fourth season, has slowly built the program into a contender, opting to develop young players rather than cleaning house. Last season, the Retrievers were starting five first-year players by the end of the year, and defender Olivia Nardone played every minute as a freshman. Stainton has done the same with the Clagetts, giving them a chance early in their career.
Brooke Clagett leads the Retrievers’ attack, while Lexi provides crucial depth in the midfield. UMBC is a much-improved offensive team in 2026, having already surpassed its win total (six) and goals scored (18) from a year ago.
“We are a better attacking team than it’s been in well over a decade,” Stainton said. “We’re getting more players around the ball. We’re producing more goals in the run of play.”
The Retrievers must now continue that through conference play in order to make the America East playoffs, which they narrowly missed out on in 2025.
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The Clagett sisters have always done everything together on and off the field.
As 18-month-old triplets, Brooke, Lexi and Brynn (a freshman goalie at Longwood University) collectively starred as Katherine Heigl’s infant goddaughter in the 2010 romantic comedy “Life as We Know It.” A few years later, their acting careers firmly in the rearview, they began to play soccer together along with their older sister Hannah, who played at Frostburg State University.
Stainton first encountered the Clagetts at a clinic that UMBC hosted when the sisters were high school sophomores playing for a small club team, FC Frederick.
Brooke was just beginning to rewrite Oakdale High School’s record books, eventually amassing 74 goals and 19 assists in her career. Her play was recognized with four first-team all-conference honors, back-to-back first-team all-state nods in 2024 and 2025 and an All-American nomination.
“Right away … they were clearly the dominant players,” Stainton said. “Coming from a small local club, they weren’t really well known but … I was like, ‘These kids just have a ton of potential.'”
The dream was to bring all three to UMBC, but the trio jumped to a high-caliber youth soccer club and each began to consider their college options. In the end, Brynn chose Longwood. Lexi committed to UMBC, with Brooke following a few months later.
For Lexi, a defender-turned-midfielder who was a standout at Oakdale, the decision came down to Stainton and the upperclassmen.
“I think just the team culture in general, it’s really good,” Lexi said. “The coaching staff is also really good, and the players — they all just looked like they had a lot of fun, and they do.”
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As Brooke and Lexi began their college careers, they leaned on each other through the adjustment.
At the club level, Lexi played primarily as an outside back. At UMBC, she shifted to the midfield. Stainton sees a player whose game might not pop on a scoresheet yet but is already essential to how UMBC wants to play.
“Lexi’s more methodical, more of a, ‘Let me get it, let me get it passed off, let me support and build up,'” he said. “She has good size and presence … good engine fitness-wise to get box to box. She’s a factor now, but she’s going to be a tremendous influence and impact, obviously, in the future.”
Brooke, on the other hand, has had to learn to share space at the top of UMBC’s formation in a two-striker setup. Stainton’s system also requires his forwards to press, something Brooke has improved on as the season has gone on.
After training and games, the sisters, who are roommates, talk at length about their play and swap advice on how to get better.
“I’m very grateful to continue playing with [Brooke] because we’ve grown up playing our entire lives together,” Lexi said. “She’s obviously one of my greatest friends … at practice, games, everything is just fun.”
Since arriving on campus, Brooke has been hard to keep off the field. She scored a goal in her very first game on Aug. 13 against Mount St. Mary’s, another three days later against American, and then two goals and an assist four days after that against Fairmont State. The performances earned her America East Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week honors.
“I came in and made a huge impact, like how I wanted to,” Brooke said. “I just have to keep working hard every day, showing up, and just proving myself even more.”
Her teammates have dubbed her “Haaland,” after Manchester City’s prolific Norwegian striker.
“They always say that I run like him,” Brooke said, laughing. “I really appreciate the freedom to be creative in the box and let the game flow itself instead of trying to force something that’s not there.”
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After her hot start, Brooke hit a scoring drought as teams began to game plan for her. Stainton remained confident in his striker, offering less advice, just letting her scoring instincts take over.
“I don’t want to tell her, ‘Oh, you shouldn’t be shooting here,'” he said. “You don’t do that to shooters.”
Against New Hampshire on Sept. 27, Clagett finally broke her eight-game goalless streak, erasing a second-half deficit with a strike nine minutes after halftime. Stainton’s strategy paid off as UMBC won, 2-1. Clagett earned her second Rookie of the Week honors for the goal, which bumped her to second in the America East Conference with five.
Now, with less than a month left in the season, UMBC is chasing an America East playoff berth. The AEC quarterfinals begin on Nov. 5.
Lexi believes the group is built for that push.
“Our team is very talented, and everyone just has to have full confidence in their abilities to be able to bring results to all of our games,” she said.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of UMBC Athletics