The Massachusetts men’s soccer team shut out Dartmouth 5-0 on the road Tuesday night, extending its winning streak to four games.

Led by a hat-trick performance from Alec Hughes, the Minutemen (4-1-2) scored their first three goals in the first half, with two coming in the first five minutes of the game. UMass gave the Big Green (1-3-1) fits with its high press, preventing them from escaping their own half of the pitch. The Minutemen’s sustained pressure generated chance after chance, amounting to 25 shots, compared to Dartmouth’s 12.

Hughes capped off his three-goal effort with an inside-the-box strike in the 57th minute. Once the tap from Andrew Ortiz reached Hughes on the right side of the box, Hughes turned on the Dartmouth defender and guided the ball into the opposite side of the net.

After snatching the ball from a Big Green midfielder, UMass capitalized on its first opportunity with a quality counterattack. Matt Cence sent a through ball to an open Hughes, who split two defenders and smashed the ball into the bottom right corner to open the scoring for the Minutemen.

Shortly after, Dartmouth succumbed to UMass’ pressure once again. Big Green goalkeeper Konstantinos Dellas attempted to throw the ball back into play, but to no avail, as Cence read the play and won the ball. Dellas managed to block the initial chip attempt but could not secure the ball. Hughes was in the right place at the right time for the rebound, which he nodded into an open net.

The Minutemen increased their lead with a touch of flair in the 20th minute. After regaining possession, Layton Purchase drove the ball down the field and swerved past a couple of defenders along the way. As Purchase reached the right corner of the penalty box, he whipped a no-look pass to Shane Velez, who smashed it into the middle of the net, pushing the lead to 3-0.

As the game progressed, Dartmouth was able to get into the final third as it began to figure out the Minutemen defense. The Big Green created their first real scoring opportunity at the halfway point of the first half, when Raul Vargas broke past UMass’ defense. With just the goalkeeper left to beat, Vargas missed, and launched it right to the Minutemen goalkeeper, Alex Geczy. Geczy secured his second consecutive clean sheet, for a total of four on the season.

The second half was less eventful as both teams settled into the game. The Minutemen put the icing on the cake with a late goal in the 73rd minute. After the ball was thrown in towards the sea of players in the penalty box, a trailing Cence tracked the ball down on the outside of the penalty box and cracked a shot into the lower right corner of the goal. Cence’s tally capped off a quality two-assist performance. The midfielder now has four assists on the season.

The Minutemen will now return home to begin Atlantic-10 conference play against George Mason on Saturday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.

Benito Marinero-Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @bmrodriguez12.