The Massachusetts men’s soccer team is in the midst of a trying season. With just one win, the Minutemen have struggled to score, and at times have struggled to keep it out of their own. Despite its struggles, though, UMass has rarely been blown out. After a bad two-game stretch to start the season, the Minutemen hadn’t lost by more than two goals in their last nine games.
Friday afternoon, that streak ended. UMass was dominated by Dayton, which scored four goals in the first 38 minutes en route to a 4-1 victory.
The Minutemen (1-10-1, 0-2-1 Atlantic 10), by their own admission, were not prepared at the opening of the game, and Dayton quickly took advantage. After dominating possession in the opening 15 minutes, the Flyers finally broke through in the 16th minute, when Rafael Gamboa finished off a crisp passing sequence to put Dayton up 1-0. Three minutes later, James Haupt found himself with the ball in front of the net and powered home a drive from close range to stretch the lead to 2-0.
“We just came out flat and didn’t execute,” UMass junior midfielder Peter Alvarenga said.
Two more Dayton goals from Greg Enstone and Amass Amankona – the latter coming from a penalty kick – put the Flyers up 4-0, and at halftime the game was effectively over.
“You have to commend Dayton for playing very well,” UMass interim coach Devin O’Neill said. “We knew they’d be a good team, and they punished us for a lot of mistakes that we made.”
UMass finally broke through for a goal in the 83rd minute, but the tally had little significance outside of the final score. The goal was credited to junior Peter Alvarenga, although he said he was not the scorer and the goal actually belonged to freshman Alex Desantis.
After the game, O’Neill was predictably upset.
“I was disappointed with our overall intensity right from the onset. We were not our normal selves today. Quite honestly, I’m just surprised… it’s a disappointing situation.”
Indeed, the Minutemen’s performance was not typical of the type of team they’ve been so far. Despite 10 losses on the season, UMass has played relatively well on defense, led by senior Matt Keys with help from sophomores Matt Pease and goalkeeper Ryan Buckingham.
But against Dayton, the versatile Keys started the game at forward. O’Neill spoke earlier in the season about being reluctant to move Keys out of his center back position, and Friday showed why. Without their captain patrolling the back line, the Minutemen conceded three goals in the first 30 minutes of the game, before Keys returned to his usual spot.
In the second half, neither team generated much offense. The Flyers controlled the tempo of the game and kept the ball largely in the midfield. Combined with their four goal lead, the tactic was more than enough to ice the game and secure the win.
It was the second conference defeat in three games of A-10 play for UMass. After losing to Saint Joseph’s in the conference opener and playing well in a tie against VCU, Friday’s game was a setback for the Minutemen in their A-10 campaign.
“(The game) was just a step back,” O’Neill. “My sincere hope is that today is just a blip in the radar.”
Ross Gienieczko can be reached at [email protected] and followed on twitter @RossGien
