With the game tied late in the second half on Saturday, the Massachusetts men’s soccer team produced one scoring opportunity after another but could not finish the game-winning score.
Unfortunately for UMass, Richmond did just that.
Justin Chew scored two minutes into the overtime period for the Spiders to outlast the Minutemen, 2-1, at Rudd Field. The loss came hours after Friday night’s 3-0 beatdown at the hands of George Washington, as UMass could not capitalize on its home field advantage in both contests, likely leaving the Minutemen out of the Atlantic 10 playoff picture.
UMass coach Sam Koch was encouraged by the team’s play on Saturday and felt disappointed with the end result.
“The guys did everything that we asked them to do,” said Koch. “We played well, we just couldn’t finish the chances.”
The Minutemen (4-12-2, 2-4-2 A-10) fired 14 shots in the second half, including seven in the final 14 minutes of play as UMass tried to secure the go-ahead goal. Freshman Josh Schwartz had four shots during that span, including three consecutive attempts in the box in less than two minutes.
Richmond (3-11-1, 2-4-0 A-10) got on the board first in the 34th minute on a Minutemen own-goal by freshman Matt Keys. Spiders senior Ben Brewster crossed a ball towards the UMass net, intended for Houston Oldham streaking towards the left corner of the box, but Keys deflected the ball and redirected it past senior goalkeeper Shane Curran-Hays for the score.
UMass knotted the score in the 53rd minute on Robert Sena’s first goal of his career. Following a Richmond turnover, senior Chris Gilbert found Sena all alone in front of the net as the freshman connected the ball off his left foot and into the right corner of the net for the goal.
Senior Chris Roswess left the game in considerable pain the 45th minute with a left leg injury. The West Springfield native had to be carried off the field by the training staff and did not return.
The match was rescheduled from Sunday afternoon to Saturday at noon due to the inclement weather approaching the area. With the change of date, the Minutemen were forced to play back-to-back days, with just 19 hours between contests.
While Saturday’s match was decided late, Friday’s contest was not as close.
Already trailing by one heading into the second half, UMass surrendered a pair of goals within the span of a minute to push the game out of reach, with George Washington grabbing the win.
Junior Mattia Melillo scored in the 59th minute, beating Curran-Hays from the center of the box on a feed from junior Zach Abaie to extend the Colonials’ lead to two. One minute later, the lead was three after senior Yoni Berhanu finished a crossing pass from Abaie for his seventh goal of the year.
George Washington (6-6-2, 4-2-0 A-10) kicked off the scoring in the 24th minute on junior Seth Rudolph’s seventh score of the year.
With the back-to-back losses, the Minutemen failed to gain ground towards the sixth and final spot in the A-10 tournament in Saint Louis, Mo. Heading into the weekend, UMass was in ninth place, one point behind Temple which was tied for sixth.
Had the Minutemen won either of the two contests, they would have earned three points to give them a total of 11, keeping them alive in the playoff hunt while needing a little help from the teams in front of them.
Koch admitted that UMass’ playoff hopes took a major hit this weekend.
“It pretty much knocks us out so now we’re just playing for the seniors next weekend and you play for next year,” said Koch following Saturday’s loss. “It’s disappointing especially in a game like [Saturday] where I really felt we could’ve won it.”
The Minutemen finish the regular season with Rhode Island on senior night at Rudd Field on Saturday afternoon.
Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Sellner.
