In a hard-fought battle on a chilly Tuesday afternoon, the Massachusetts men’s soccer team squeaked out a 1-0 victory against Holy Cross at home in their final non-conference matchup of the regular season.
Around the 60th minute, as both the Minutemen (7-3-4, 2-2-1 Atlantic 10) and the Crusaders (2-9-3, 1-3-1 Patriot League) went back and forth, jawing for position throughout the entire game, UMass was awarded a crucial corner kick opportunity. Up to the task was Johan Feilscher, who took the corner and set his men up in the way that seemed fit.
Feilscher released the ball with a booming cross into the near side of the post as Matt Fordham smashed the ball into the top right corner of the goal with a header. This broke the tie and gave the Minutemen the late lead and ultimately was the lone goal of the game.
“Big credit to [Feilscher] who gave us a really good shift,” head coach Fran O’Leary said. “He played a quality corner, and [Fordham] finished it for him.”
Early on, UMass and Holy Cross both struggled to take possession of the game, mostly going back and forth in the middle of the field. The Minutemen had double the scoring chances of the Crusaders, taking 10 shots to five respectively, yet could not capitalize on any of these opportunities. At times, UMass looked sluggish and consistently turned the ball over on the opposing side of the field.
Things started to change midway through the first half until the full-time buzzer sounded as UMass subbed in Matt Cence, Oliver Akintade and Aaron O’Malley, usual starters who came off the bench during this game. Once all three men entered, the Minutemen outpaced Holy Cross and took over the game.
As if a fire was sparked by those three men, UMass began pushing the ball quicker as they maneuvered past the Crusader defense with ease and took full control of the midfield battle.
“I thought we were better in the second half,” O’Leary said. “In the first half, we were slow in our passing lanes and the ball was moving slowly. We are a tempo-type team. In the second half, we moved the ball quicker, moved it forward more often, giving us chances.”
Defense was the calling card for the Minutemen for most of the game as Holy Cross only took six shot attempts throughout the game with no shots on goal. Along with that, in the second half, the Crusaders managed to get only one shot opportunity. The high press of UMass created scoring chances for the offense, as Holy Cross struggled to possess the ball outside of its own half.
“When we lost [the ball], we were able to win it back [in the second half],” O’Leary said. “The back four was really good today. Alex [Geczy] didn’t have a save today and that is a credit to the guys who played along the back four today.”
Geczy earned his sixth clean sheet of the season with this performance. Without the help of Alec Hughes, who did not suit up due to getting a red card last game against Davidson, the shot charts continued to spread among the team as Feilscher led the way with six shot attempts, while five other Minutemen joined in on the festivities as well.
“We felt in control,” O’Leary said. “We did not feel in control against Davidson [last game], and we felt in control [Tuesday].”
The Minutemen are back in action on Saturday night, when they will head out and face A-10 conference rival Rhode Island on the road. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Benito Marinero-Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @bmrodriguez12.
