The Massachusetts men’s soccer team entered its game against Dartmouth on the high of a hard fought 1-0 win over Brown. Alec Hughes delivered the game-winning rocket in that game, and he left a similar mark in the Minutemen’s (4-1-2) 5-0 victory against Dartmouth (1-3-1).
In just the third minute of the game, Hughes found himself through on goal. Once he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, there was little doubt that UMass would take an early lead against Dartmouth. Hughes stared down the goalkeeper and calmly slotted the ball past him to open the scoring.
A mere two minutes later, Matt Cence took a shot that got saved, but Hughes was right in front of the goal, with no goalkeeper in sight when the ball landed at his feet. He calmly rolled the ball into the net and ran off to celebrate with his teammates. Just five minutes into the match, the Minutemen held a 2-0 lead.
Hughes had to work a free kick miracle to win the game for the Minutemen on Saturday against Brown. In the first half of this contest, the ball just fell in his lap.
The pacey forward has found a way to get on the end of virtually everything this season, whether it be through making quality runs, or being in the right place at the right time to cap off a rebound opportunity.
UMass is a team on fire, and much of the credit must go towards its goal scoring machine. However quiet he may be, Hughes always has the capacity to impact the game at any given moment. Hughes influences the game in a multitude of fashions, whether it be intimidating defenders with his track star speed or winning a header over even the biggest of defenders.
In the second half, Hughes took two touches to the right with his back to the goal. He proceeded to strike the ball across his body, steering his shot into the bottom left corner, to secure his second hat trick of the week. The hat trick brings his UMass goal tally to 45, just three shy of tying the all-time school record held by Jeff Deren.
Hughes’ goalscoring was also not the only way he altered the match. He hawked defenders down, held the ball up for streaking runners and did all the dirty work associated with being a classic number nine. His goal scoring prowess comes alongside these traits, but these are all things that coaches dream of in a striker.
Hughes has now scored in five straight matches, with 10 goals in that time span. He will look to expand on this streak as league play approaches. Last season, Hughes netted seven goals during league play, earning him the Atlantic-10 Player of the Year award.
The Minutemen will take on George Mason in the A-10 opener on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Rudd Field. The match will be a test for Hughes and his teammates, as the Patriots boast a 5-1 record. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.
Dylan Shalom can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @dylan_third.
