With lights on for Saturday night soccer, the Massachusetts men’s soccer team’s first half was dark going down 2-0 at halftime and ultimately fell short in a 4-2 loss to Davidson.
The Minutemen showed fight and perseverance as forward Oliver Akintade scored both of the team’s goals. Before this game, Akintade’s only goal this season was in the comeback thriller against Fordham. UMass (6-3-4, 2-2-1 Atlantic 10) outshot Davidson (4-4-4, 3-2-0 A-10) 14-13 with both teams having eight shots on goal.
Even after going down 3-0 well into the second half, the Minutemen continued to show some life in the closing minutes of the half, as they showed potential to make a comeback and force a tie. Akintade’s second goal came off a penalty kick after he drew a foul against Wildcats defender Eamon Moylan, making it a one goal game at 3-2.
However, the chances of a spoiler came up short as Davidson sophomore midfielder Ben Minikel-Lacocque scored the insurance goal in the final minute of the game. This goal was also the first NCAA goal for Minikel-Lacocque.
Midfielder Nico Quanbeck opened the scoring in the matchup for the Wildcats off a corner kick grounder from Ayman Maadir in the 25th minute. This assist was one of Maadir’s major moments of the game, as he scored a free kick goal in the 47th minute. Quanbeck’s goal tied Davidson’s leading team goals for the season and was the second consecutive game where found the back of the net.
UMass’ first goal of the came in the 69th minute when Bilal Hersi found an opening and fed the ball through two Davidson defenders to find Akintade in the seam for his first goal of the game.
But, the Minutemen’s struggles continued when lead goal scorer Alec Hughes received his second yellow card of the game in the 81st minute. This was Hughes second game since his injury at Fordham where he missed the following two matchups against Vermont and St. Joseph’s and only returned for UMass’ last game against Dayton.
Even without the presence of Hughes for the final 10 minutes of the game, the Minutemen showed some fouling issues throughout the game when Matt Fordham and Akintade both received yellow cards. The Minutemen came into this game as a top 10 goals scoring team in the country, but were held to only two scores.
The unofficial game-winner for the Wildcats came from Maadir, as he scored their third goal of the game early in the second half as he got a deflection off the post of the net. This was his second goal of the season and is the only player on Davidson that resides in the university’s home state of North Carolina.
UMass’ lost to the Wildcats is the first team loss since Sept. 21 and the first time the team has given up three or more goals since Sept. 7. The loss also marks the Minutemen’s first conference loss of the season on the road. Akintade’s two goal game is the second time this month where the Minutemen had a single player put up a multi-goal game.
With less than a month away until the A-10 tournament, UMass will return home for its final non A-10 conference matchup against Holy Cross on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m.
Jonathan Murgida can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @jonathanmurgida.
