With students returning to campus for the start of the semester, the stands were filled to the brim and the crowd was buzzing as the Massachusetts men’s soccer team defeated Boston College 3-0. There were over 1,800 fans in attendance for UMass’ (2-0-1) dominant showing, the most since 2017.
The Minutemen could not have asked for a better start in Saturday’s fan-packed clash, getting off to an early lead against the Eagles (2-1-0) thanks to a goal from Matt Cence. The freshman midfielder’s shot from nearly 15 yards out squeezed into the goal in the fifth minute of the contest.
Cence wasn’t the only new face making an impact for UMass in the first half, as goalkeeper Matt Zambetti finished the opening 45 minutes with two highlight saves. Zambetti joined the Minutemen squad for his senior season, after having previously played at Virginia Tech, and has already made a strong impression. In the 19th minute, the Eagles’ Augustine Boadi fired a shot at the top-right corner of the goal, and although he appeared to begin celebrating early, the goal was robbed from him by Zambetti who knocked it away by his fingertips. His second save came 10 minutes later after Adrian Zenko loaded his leg and fired one to the middle right of the net, but Zambetti was able to propel himself to execute the diving save.
“[Zambetti] has been terrific; he plays with maturity and a calmness,” head coach Fran O’Leary said. “He’s been a great addition to our squad.”
The two undefeated schools traded chances in the remaining minutes of the first half, with both teams going into the locker room with the score locked at 1-0. Ending the half with eight fouls and five shots apiece, the biggest difference was that four of Minutemen’s shots were on goal as opposed to Boston College’s two.
The reason for the discrepancy was UMass’s fast-paced play. Boston College was much more methodical in moving the ball by slowly bringing their players up with the attack, while the Minutemen quickly got down the field due to powerful through balls and crosses.
It was UMass who struck first in the second half after Alec Hughes drilled a right-footed shot into the right corner thanks to an assist from Evan Fournier. Hughes was nearly called offside but was just kept on due to an Eagles defender, giving the Minutemen a two-goal lead.
Unfortunately for Boston College, when it rains it pours. Not even two minutes later, midfielder Ryan Levay buried a header in the top right corner of the net, with Fournier recording another assist.
As UMass took the three-goal lead, the crowd erupted and remained spirited as the final minutes winded down. As the buzzer rang out, Zambetti acknowledged his clean sheet, and the teams win by punting the ball in celebration.
“The crowd was fantastic,” O’Leary said. “To get 1,800 people was terrific against a very good team in Boston College.”
The most memorable part of UMass’ win was its shot accuracy. Of the 11 shots the Minutemen took, 10 were on goal, marking accuracy of 91 percent. As for the Eagles, only four of their 13 shots were on goal.
“That is an unbelievable ratio,” O’Leary said about the accuracy. “It’s something you don’t see very often, so it’s a big shoutout to our guys,” he added.
UMass will return to the pitch Wednesday when they head down to Connecticut to take on the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils at 7 p.m.
Jordan Meneo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @JordanMeneo.
