If the Massachusetts men’s soccer team had a stress indicator, it would be flashing red and suggesting the squad take a stiff drink.
In a grueling weekend of conference play, the Minutemen (4-6-2, 1-1-2 Atlantic 10) were handed a 3-2 loss at the hands of Richmond (2-6-2, 1-1-1) on Friday, but bounced back to defeat George Washington (1-7-3, 0-2-2), 2-1 in double overtime on Sunday.
No stranger to playing in nail-biters, Sunday’s game marked the sixth contest of the season for the Minutemen to be decided in overtime, and the fifth in the last six games. The defensive-minded Minutemen have gone 3-2-1 during that stretch.
At George Washington, UMass coach Sam Koch picked up his 150th career win from behind the Maroon and White bench, thanks to Tim Kitchell’s golden goal in the 105th minute.
The game winner was set up by a Ralph Pace on a throw-in. Pace lobbed a high pass to Kitchell, who headed the ball with the back of his head for his first goal of the season. The shot deflected off the cross bar and past Colonial goalie Derek Biss to give UMass its first A-10 win of the year.
UMass took 12 shots on the day and put only two on net, but both were for goals that came in the form of headers.
The first score came from sophomore Rob Charest in the 62nd minute. Charest netted his team-leading, sixth-goal of the season when Ian O’Donnell and Pace set up a Charest on a bang-bang play deep in the Massachusetts zone, to give the Minutemen a 1-0 lead close to midway through the second half.
The lead was short lived however, as George Washington responded in the 80th minute with a Jon Allen breakaway goal.
The Colonials out shot the Minutemen 8-0 in the first half but could only capitalize on one scoring opportunity, despite holding a 12-6 advantage in corner kicks.
UMass freshman goalkeeper Nick Billman recorded five saves and won his second game as a starter.
Pace came up big for the Maroon and White on Friday as well, but a pair of goals in the second half was not enough to lead the Maroon and White to a come-from-behind victory over conference foe Richmond.
The Minutemen outshot the Spiders 12 to 3 in the second period as they tried to overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit. Pace led the effort with scores in the 80th and 87th minute.
Pace’s first goal of the season came when he sent a header past Spider goalkeeper Eric Sciocchetti to put the Minutemen on the board. The 6-2 sophomore took advantage of his superior height and gained position in front of the Richmond goal, where he out jumped the competition and redirected a Todd Skelton crossing pass.
Seven minute later, Pace was given a golden scoring opportunity that was set up by a Richmond foul inside the box. On the ensuing penalty kick, Pace placed his shot perfectly, inside the left post past a diving Sciocchetti.
Richmond jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring two goals within a two minute span in the first half. Colin Vint and Micah Fisher were responsible for the early Spider lead.
Vint’s goal opened the scoring for the Spiders by netting a 25 yard shot in the 16th minute. Callum Thomas was credited with the assist.
Fisher tacked on to the lead with his first career goal. The opportunity
came when UMass goalie Colin Burns deflected a Steven Wolfe corner kick out in front of the net. Fisher gained control of the loose ball and took a shot before Burns had a chance to recover.
Burns, the senior captain, finished the game with three saves while Sciocchetti recorded six. Shots were 16-11 in favor of Massachusetts.
The Minutemen return home this weekend to play Dayton on Friday (3:00 p.m.) and Xavier on Sunday (1:00 p.m.). Both games will be played at Rudd Field.
