This past weekend, the Massachusetts men’s soccer team failed to score in its third consecutive game, this time in a 2-0 loss at Boston University.
Playing in horrible, rainy conditions on Saturday, the Minutemen (0-5) were outshot 18-9, and few things went their way.
“We’re working on it,” UMass coach Devin O’Neill said. “In fairness to our guys, the conditions in the first half were brutal for both teams, and obviously (BU) got a couple goals and were much better than us. Just given the fact that the rain and the slick surface really made attacking play kind of a dicey task, but we were much better in the second half.”
O’Neill mentioned that the team needs to push its defense more up the field on a frequent basis after the strategy generated several scoring chances against the Terriers.
Another contributing factor that left the Minutemen searching for answers offensively was the strength of opponents during their road trip, with the opposition having quality defenses.
“The schedule has absolutely been hard and you know a lot of credit has to be given to the opponents, but the bulk of our work as a team so far has been defensively, because we felt like that was the first order of business,” O’Neill said.
“We’re behind the curve a little bit offensively, but we’re working on it and hopefully it comes around.”
In the game of soccer, getting shots on target is key for any offense to generate production. For UMass, that efficiency is lacking. Of the 50 shot attempts taken by the Minutemen, just 24 have actually been on net.
In the home opener this Friday against Fairfield (2-1-1), O’Neill said it’d be great to pop in a goal or two, and capitalize on the things his team has been working on.
“As I said, we’re working on (the) same things and trying to address that the scoring drought, both from a defensive standpoint and what we do once we’re on the ball, will lead to more goal scoring opportunities,” he said.
Friday set to be an emotional day
When the referee blows the whistle and gets UMass’ home-opener against the Stags at Rudd Field underway, it will signify another first for the men’s soccer team. It will be the first home contest in 23 years without former coach Sam Koch on the sidelines. Koch died of sinus cancer in July.
“I’m sure it’s going to be a very emotional game,” O’Neill said. “It’ll be the first home game without Coach Koch, and there’s going to be a brief ceremony before kickoff, and I’m sure it’ll be on everyone’s mind.”
“We’re gonna be looking for a great start to a brief home stand and we hope that our performance is one that would make (Koch) proud.”
In terms of emotions running high, O’Neill said that he knows his players will be thinking about the significance of the occasion but would like them to use those feelings to spark their energy.
“I’m not going to ask them to keep their emotions in check and hold anything back,” he said. “I would like to see a passionate, emotion-filled performance and to see us wear our heart on our sleeve and just really compete hard.”
Jason Kates can be reached at [email protected].
