After an extended four game, 10-day road trip out on the West Coast to begin the season, the Massachusetts men’s soccer team is finally back in the Bay State.
For the first time this season, the Minutemen (0-4) will not be taking a plane to get to their next game, with an in-state contest at Boston University set for this Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
Devin O’Neill, winless in his first four games as interim head coach, took several positives from the experience out west, but mainly is happy to be back in New England, where UMass will be playing its next eight games.
“We sure are glad to be home,” he said. “I know the guys are definitely excited to be back here, so it’s feels good to be back in familiar surroundings.”
O’Neill also mentioned that despite the losses, the team feels like they have improved and have gained experience that will be valuable for his team as the season progresses.
At this young point in the season, UMass will look to forget about its first four games of the season, and focus on the game against the Terriers (2-2).
In terms of the offensive performance so far, there are several aspects that O’Neill would like to see his team improve on in order to succeed. The Minutemen have scored only two goals in four games, while squandering 12 goals to the opposition.
“We just have to get out of the back a little bit better and get our forwards in better positions to generate chances,” he said. “We also would like to see ourselves be a little more dangerous in certain restarts situations, so we’re hoping that that comes around and we’ll be able to score a few.”
BU has also had its struggles offensively with winning both of its games by the score of 1-0, including an overtime win versus Fordham in the season opener.
As for the game this weekend, O’Neill will be on the lookout for several things from his team that he thinks will be extremely important in getting the teams first win.
“It always begins with competitiveness and how hard we work. We also want to do a great job defensively, and if we can be a little better at generating goal-scoring opportunities and taking those chances when they come, I think we’ll be in good shape.” O’Neill said.
Being winless after a few games can be demoralizing for any college team, and the Minutemen will try to not let get too overwhelmed with the thought of winning their first game this Saturday. O’Neill knows how tough it is to keep that thought out of a player’s mind, and hopes his guys will zone everything out and just play the game.
“I’m sure it’s on everyone’s mind. It’s not the ideal way to start the season, but I think most importantly everyone involved with the program can see that our players have improved,” O’Neill said. “What we talk a lot about is that results will follow performance, so if we continue to perform better, the results will come.”
Jason Kates can be reached at [email protected].
