Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Minutemen host URI in regular-season finale

Geoff King/Collegian

If there’s one thing Massachusetts men’s soccer coach Sam Koch can take away from a season lost, it’s that his team more often than not was good enough to be better than what its record indicates.

Although the Minutemen (4-12-2, 2-4-2 Atlantic 10) are mathematically eliminated from A-10 postseason contention, some solace can still be found, as the team will have a chance to end on a positive note this Saturday when it welcomes Rhode Island to Rudd Field for Senior Day.

“The one thing we can do is end the season on a win,” said Koch. “So we [have a chance] to be able to do something that a lot of teams can’t do, and that is end with a ‘W,’ which is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a bad thing we’re in this situation because you want to be in the other, but it’s [also] a good situation because you can still end on a positive note.”

To do that, UMass will have to get by the Rams (6-10-1, 3-4-1 A-10), who are in a much different situation than the Minutemen heading into Saturday’s contest. URI is currently two points out of sixth place in the standings for the final spot in the A-10 Tournament, which begins next week.

However, the Rams will need a lot of help to gain entry to the postseason – as sixth place is currently shared through a four-way tie between La Salle, Temple, Saint Louis and Dayton. With a win, URI could potentially make the tournament, but UMass has the unique opportunity to spoil any chance the Rams have at the postseason by defeating them on Saturday.

“[URI] feels that they can still get in,” said Koch. “An awful lot of things have to happen, and one of them is they have to beat us, so we want to make sure we take care of that problem right away and knock them off. So would we get enjoyment out of knocking them off? Sure. There’s no love lost between these two schools.

“It’s one of those games where it doesn’t matter what the records are,” added Koch. “Of all the games on our schedule, this is probably the one game you don’t want to lose.”

The Rams are coming off of a split last weekend when they beat Richmond, 4-1, before falling to George Washington, 2-1, on their home field.

The squad will look to right the ship this weekend, as they bring a balanced scoring attack to the table into the matchup, as five of its players have tallied three goals this season. Matt Sykes and Matt Ribbens lead the attack with 10 and nine points, respectively, and should pose as a considerable threat for a Minutemen back line that has conceded five goals in its last two games.

“They’re a very good transition team,” said Koch. “They can counter on you, they have good team speed, they’re quick, yet they’re suspect themselves defensively. They’re definitely a better scoring team than we are, so defensively we have to maintain our shape and do what we need to do.

“We’ve been caught on the transition, we’ve been caught out of position, we’ve been caught over committing, which I think has led to a number of goals,” added Koch. “Can we clean that up better than we have going into this last game? It’s pretty important for us to do so.”

While this game will be the last chance of the season for Koch to see what his younger players can do and begin early preparations for next season, it will also be the last time the seniors step on to the Rudd Field pitch donning their maroon and white jerseys.

Although Koch doesn’t get too caught up in the pregame festivities and the emotional aspects that Senior Day comes with, he is still proud of what the seniors have accomplished and gone through throughout their four years.
“We want to honor the seniors who have put in four years of hard work,” said Koch. “This is a hard program to go through. We train outside year round, we’re up at 6 a.m. for practices. It’s not easy, and it’s really not easy when you’re not winning, so we want to end on a good note.”

The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, although it could be pushed to Sunday due to the field’s condition after last weekend’s snow storm. The seniors suiting up for their last time as Minutemen will be Bryant Craft, Chris Roswess, Shane Curran-Hays, Andrew Henshaw, Chris Stoker, Chris Gilbert, Clifton Kipper and Michael Doherty.
Stephen Hewitt can be reached at [email protected] or followed on Twitter @MDC_Hewitt.

 

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