The Massachusetts men’s soccer team earned its first win of the season Saturday in an action-packed 4-3 triumph over Yale. UMass (1-1-2) took the lead on four separate occasions, with the final instance standing as the game-winner.
In the 77th minute, midfielder Andrew Ortiz gathered valuable possession on the right touchline. He proceeded to curl a menacing cross into the danger area, where star forward Alec Hughes was ready to pounce. Hughes made a darting run into the six-yard box and headed home the dramatic winner.
The Minutemen scored both the first and last goals of the contest. UMass launched the ball deep directly off its opening kickoff. A couple of quick touches saw Hughes running in behind the Bulldogs (0-3-0) defense before the 10th second had passed. His left-footed cross bounced favorably for Shane Velez, who scored just 16 seconds into the game with the assistance of a deflection.
Yale was the epitome of persistence on the night, scoring the first of three equalizers with an advantageous rebound in the fourth minute. A Minutemen backline that conceded zero times in their first two fixtures struggled to keep the Bulldogs out of the attacking third.
Hughes contributed an earlier goal ahead of his winning tally, marking the 10th brace of his collegiate career. Velez clipped a lobbed through ball in the 36th minute that allowed Hughes to use his blazing pace to prance towards goal. A slight body feint gave him just enough space to push the ball onto his favorite left foot and slip his shot past Yale goalkeeper Chris Edwards.
Mike Willis was another important component for UMass in its attack. Left back Chris Giglio heaved a long throw-in towards a sea of maroon jerseys in the ninth minute of the contest. An attempted clearance floated straight to Willis, allowing him to send a powerful header to the back post. Velez’s failed effort to nod the ball into the net froze the goalkeeper and saw Willis’ header nestle into the bottom right corner.
Hughes is now chasing history for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, as he stands alone in third place on the all-time list of Minutemen goal scorers. His 38 career goals put him within striking distance of Jeff Deren’s record-breaking 48 goals from 1999-2002. Hughes scored 15 times in 2023, making the historical mission a real possibility.
UMass played without some of its key pieces on Saturday. Midfielder Kyle Stenzel played the majority of minutes across the Minutemen’s first three matches, but he was unavailable. Winger Oliver Akintade was absent for the second consecutive game, as was fullback Alex Brown. Bilal Hersi showed positives in his first few games, but he was also missing. Despite the high quantity of absences, UMass fought through adversity to claim its first win of the season.
The high-scoring affair was played quite evenly on paper. The Bulldogs outshot the Minutemen 14-12, though just half of the home team’s attempts were on target. UMass put two-thirds of its opportunities on goal and were simply more clinical in its finishing touches.
The sides were chippy throughout, as 29 different challenges earned whistles from the referee. Six yellow cards were brandished, four of those to the away team.
The Minutemen return home to Rudd Field on Wednesday, Sept. 11, when it will host UMass Lowell in an in-state matchup. The midweek battle will kick off at 4 p.m.
Cameron Pellegrino can be reached at [email protected].
