A chance for redemption awaits the Massachusetts men’s soccer team on Friday, when it will attempt to avenge its frustrating non-conference schedule with a win against Xavier to open conference play.
UMass’ first game of the season came on Sept. 1, when it tied Boston University, 1-1. The Minutemen went on to tie four of their next eight games while only winning one.
A key reason for UMass’ 1-3-5 record was its difficult schedule. During the non-conference slate, the Minutemen welcomed two nationally-ranked teams in Harvard and Indiana to Rudd Field. Both games were very close, but UMass ultimately lost both by one goal. In fact, the Minutemen were not outscored by more than one goal during the non-conference schedule.
UMass regrets not having some of its ties go for wins, considering it had ample scoring opportunities to win games in overtime. It seemed for a while that the Maroon and White could not catch a break, from shots hitting posts and crossbars, to bad deflections and even shots that crept along their opponents’ goal line.
Still, UMass coach Sam Koch knows it could have gone better.
“[The non-conference schedule] was not as good as we hoped,” Koch said. “We played a tough schedule. Certainly it has showed us what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are. As far as being able to learn from it, we certainly have. And now we’ll see if we have been able to learn enough when we go into our game on Friday.”
Strong defense and transition offense has been a staple throughout UMass’ impressive soccer history. In 2007, when the Minutemen made it to the NCAA semifinals, it was no different.
Although UMass only gave up more than two goals once during the preseason, the defense was shaky at times, which almost always came back to haunt the Minutemen.
Heading into conference play, UMass needs its defense to return to form and its offense to finish on quality scoring chances.
“There are obviously things we need to be aware of, but more than anything else we have to control the ball, we have to play the line well together, we have to make sure that we are supporting each other in the attack and we move the ball quickly,” Koch said. “And I think if they do that, it will create chances that hopefully will do a better job finishing than we have in the first part of the season.”
Most signs point to UMass turning things around. Christ Piekos has played well in net, registering a 1.08 goals-against average and .824 save percentage in seven starts. Bryant Craft is stepping up as the go-to goal-scorer as the team leader for tallies (four). With five assists, midfielder Ben Arikian continues to make plays and climb UMass’ all-time assists ladder. Even new Minutemen have joined the attack, with rookies Tyler Cleverdon and Brett Canepa joining the score sheet and logging important minutes.
But even with all these pluses, UMass still cannot score enough. In nine games, the Minutemen have 11 goals. Moving forward into conference play, UMass will relay on secondary scoring on top of finishing good scoring opportunities.
Steve Levine can be reached at [email protected].
