The Massachusetts men’s soccer team easily could have left Friday’s home matchup against Harvard with its first loss of the season in a game in which the Crimson fired 18 shots, eight of which were on goal.
But UMass senior goalkeeper Brian Frame had other plans.
Behind Frame’s seven saves, the Minutemen (2-0-1), who were one of only two teams to lose to the Crimson last season, found the back of the net first, but were unable to hold on in a 1-1 tie on Friday at Rudd Field.
The Minutemen broke through in the 18th minute, when Connor DeVivo lofted a 30-yard pass down field to a wide-open Josh Schwartz. The sophomore forward took advantage of a one-on-one situation and smacked it past the Harvard goalie for his second goal of the season, making it consecutive games in which he has scored.
But about four minutes later, Hiroki Kobayashi knotted the score as he fired a 20-yard shot from the right wing and placed it right below the opposite upper 90. It was Harvard’s first goal of the season and the score also halted Frame’s shutout streak, as he had opened up the season blanking Delaware and Vermont respectively.
After outshooting UMass by one in the first period, the Crimson (0-0-1) went on a tear in the second, dominating the Minutemen with an 8-2 shot advantage while appearing to be in complete control of the game.
Statistically outmatching UMass in nearly every offensive category, the Crimson led in shots (19-10), shots on goal (8-4) and corner kicks (8-4) as the home squad showed fatigue throughout the match.
“I don’t know if we’ve just been in the preseason for so long and haven’t been able to recover as well as we need to,” UMass coach Sam Koch said. “There’s no question we were a tired team at the end.”
While the defense was lacking for the Minutemen, they came up with some key blocks, highlighted by a pair of consecutive diving headers in front of the net by sophomore defenseman Matt Keys.
“The defense came up huge and we were all fighting for balls in there,” Frame said. “[They were] probably the best team we’ve played so far this year.”
The senior goalkeeper, came through in the clutch for the third game in a row, as he made two diving saves in the closing minutes of the second period.
“He’s been tremendous,” Koch said of Frame. “He’s worked hard for four years to be here and I’m glad it’s paying off. No one deserves it more than he does.”
After an uneventful first overtime period, each team had a couple of scoring chances in the second, but failed to convert. Harvard goalie Evan Mendez recorded three saves in his first collegiate start, while Frame notched a career-high seven saves.
The clearly-fatigued Minutemen will have ample time to rest for their next game. They will be back in action on Sept. 8, when they travel to New York to take on Adelphi.
Taylor Snow can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Taylor_C_Snow.
