The Massachusetts women’s soccer team lost its first Atlantic 10 game of the season on Thursday afternoon, as the No. 22 Saint Louis Billikens handed UMass a 1-0 defeat. Thursday’s game marks the first regular season loss for the Minutewomen (5-3-1, 0-1 Atlantic 10) at Rudd Field since 2022.
Despite playing stifling defense for a large majority of the game, UMass found itself getting outshot at a clip of nearly 3-to-1 as the second half drew towards its halfway point. Although most of the Billikens’ (5-1-3, 1-0 A-10) shots were from low danger areas (just seven of their 18 total shots were on net), a prolific scoring offense is going to find a way to break through eventually, and that is what they did in the 63rd minute.
Saint Louis freshman Hope Kim was the beneficiary of a bounding ball and some chaos in front of the Minutewomen net in the second half. A cross to the middle from outside the 18 yard box hit the hand of UMass goalkeeper Bella Mendoza, then trickled around about six players from both sides who were within a few feet of the net.
Unable to cover or clear the ball, the Minutewomen allowed a soft touch from Kim to roll into the net unimpeded to give the Billikens the lead and ultimately, the win.
UMass battled for the equalizer for the final 27 minutes, but despite a couple of close calls, it was unable to even the game up and was shut out for the first time in three weeks.
In spite of the loss, Minutewomen head coach Jason Dowiak was proud of how his team handled the perennial powerhouse that is Saint Louis.
“For our program, that’s an opponent that we’ve always struggled to compete with for 90 minutes, but today we did,” Dowiak said. “We showed incredible resilience and heart to find chances, even within the last five minutes. I think we made it harder on them than anyone they’ve played so far.”
Thursday’s loss breaks an 11-game regular season unbeaten streak at home for UMass and a three-game stretch of shutouts spanning over the last two and a half weeks. Holding the Billikens to one goal was an emphasis for the Minutewomen defensively, which they did by keeping much of the Saint Louis pressure to the outside of the field.
“I think it’s the attitude of our group defensively right now,” Dowiak said. “We talk a lot about delaying obvious opportunities from happening and delaying opportunities for teams to be dangerous one-[on]-one and one-[on]-zero even. We just got so many people around the ball that I think they were having a hard time trying to figure out how to create better chances, and they had a few for sure, but I wouldn’t even say the goal they had was their best chance on the day.”
Another big reason for UMass’ defensive success has been Mendoza, who ranks among the top five keepers in the A-10 in goals against average (.778), save percentage (.800) and shutouts per game (.556). Against the Billikens, the senior recorded six saves and allowed just the one tap-in goal.
“[Mendoza’s] just continuing to evolve every day and her awareness and composure, there’s little things she did today that really showed a tactical understanding. In moments too, it wasn’t just like a split second decision,” Dowiak said. “Her growth has just continued to impress us and obviously when you have a goalkeeper like that behind, it gives confidence to everybody in front of her to be able to take some other chances at times.”
The Minutewomen will hit the road for the first time in conference play on Sunday, traveling to upstate New York to take on St. Bonaventure. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @matt_skillings.
