The Massachusetts men’s soccer team’s season came to an end on Nov. 14 following a 2-0 loss to Saint Louis in the first round of the Atlantic 10 playoffs. While a first round exit may be viewed as a disappointment in some eyes, the fact that UMass qualified for the tournament at all may be deemed a success.
The Minutemen struggled mightily to open the season, posting an 0-8-1 record through their first nine games. Through this nine-game stretch, UMass recorded three total goals compared to the 15 that they gave up.
“The first half of our schedule was difficult. A lot of it was on the road, and that’s just not easy to do,” Minutemen coach Sam Koch said. “Guys really had to get used to playing at a high level really quickly.”
In addition to a tough nonconference schedule, Koch also attributed the team’s slow start to a lack of experience, characterized by having 14 freshmen on the team.
“There was such a learning process because we had so many young players who never really played with each other that were all of a sudden out there,” Koch said.
Despite the early difficulties, Koch said that the early playing time given to many of the underclassmen helped the team for the rest of the season.
“You can’t put a price tag on (experience),” Koch said. “It is something that is hard to get and our guys got a lot of it this year.”
On Sept. 28, the Minutemen’s offense finally found success against Siena, as the team earned its first victory of the season by a 5-2 count right before conference play. UMass then won three of its next five games to improve to sixth place in the A-10 standings.
“I think it was just all coming together,” Koch said. “Guys started to really understand what they needed to do and were able to do it.”
Needing one more win to clinch the team’s first playoff berth since 2008, the Minutemen concluded the regular season with two losses to Dayton and No. 21 Saint Louis, which momentarily left Minutemen outside of the top eight teams that make the postseason.
UMass eventually received outside help and settled for the eighth seed and were matched up with the top-seeded Billikens for the second consecutive game.
While the Minutemen stayed with Saint Louis in the scoreless first half, the Billikens proved why they were the conference’s top team with two unanswered goals in the second half.
“In the Saint Louis game, we still could have managed things better than we did,” Koch said. “So there’s a lot of stuff that we as a team have to work together on to move forward.”
Looking at next year’s squad, the young UMass team will expect to see everyone return with the exception of only three seniors: Brett Canepa, Connor DeVivo and Nigel Negm.
Among the returnees include juniors Josh Schwartz and Matt Keys, who finished in first and second, respectively, in points for the team. Schwartz recorded six goals and four assists en route to 16 points for the year.
Keys, who started the season as a starting defenseman before moving to forward, finished with 10 points on three goals and four assists. Regarding whether Keys’ position change will continue next season, Koch said that it is too early to tell.
“A lot will depend on how people develop in the spring,” Koch said. “If we find a target player that can really do the job like he does, then we can put him in the back. If we find another defender that could really do a good job in the back, then we’ll play him up top.
“He can play both spots and he likes both spots, so we will put him where he helps the group the most.”
In addition, Koch said that he is excited to see goalkeeper Nick Ruiz, defensemen Matt Pease and Josh Jess and midfielders Carlo deMarco, Cody Sitton, and Luke Pavone develop. All were freshmen who received significant playing time in 2013.
“We’ll continue to go forward from where we left off,” Koch said. “Obviously we want to get back to the A-10 Tournament and we certainly want to get to the finals and win it.”
Anthony Chiusano can be reached at [email protected] and can be followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.
