The Massachusetts men’s soccer team solidified its positioning in the Atlantic 10 playoff picture with a thrilling 1-0 win over No. 23 Duquesne on senior day at Rudd Field. UMass (9-3-4, 4-2-1 A-10) was deadlocked with the Dukes (11-3-1, 5-2 A-10) until an 88th minute goal from Alec Hughes sealed the win.
“It’s a huge win. I think now that should cement our place in the A-10 Tournament, which for us is a great accomplishment,” head coach Fran O’Leary said. “I felt we won comprehensively even against the wind, we took the game to them against the wind and then obviously in the second half pinned them in.”
The Minutemen had been tied with Duquesne for nearly 88 full minutes before Alec Hughes got a one-on-one on the left flank with a Dukes defender. The senior controlled the ball and shot it left-footed between the legs of goalkeeper Zoltan Nagy and into the back of the net. Hughes’ goal moves him just one away from tying UMass’ record for career goals scored, currently held by Jeff Deren with 48.
“You back [Hughes] in those moments,” O’Leary said. “He can be quiet for long, long periods but when you get him in a one-on-one inside penalty area you take it that he’ll score. He’s just got a track record of doing that.”
The Minutemen controlled possession and held the advantage in scoring chances over Duquesne but despite some strong opportunities, the game-winning goal nearly eluded them. UMass’ high press meant the Dukes rarely controlled the ball in the second half and led to both a 17-7 shot advantage and 10-2 shot on goal advantage for the Minutemen.
Nagy was stout in goal for the Dukes despite having to battle the wind, making nine saves and preventing goals on high quality chances. On the other side, UMass goalkeeper Alex Geczy had relatively little work, only being forced to make two saves.
“At the start of today we were 13th in the nation in goals scored,” O’Leary said. “So [that] says that we can create a lot. We say that our press is our playmaker; when we press well, it creates chances for us. Today our press created a lot of chances.”
Before their game-winning goal from Hughes, the Minutemen created some dangerous scoring chances that nearly went into the back of the net. In the 71st minute, Matt Cence attempted a corner kick that was nearly guided in by the wind before a save from Nagy. Cence’s chance came from one of 10 corner kicks that UMass had on Saturday.
Nagy was also forced to make some leaping saves. In the 44th minute, Nagy jumped and sent the ball up and over the crossbar when Andrew Ortiz sent a strike towards the top right corner of the net.
Cence led the Minutemen with four shots, three of which were on net. The spread-out attack of UMass led to four other players recording multiple shots.
Saturday also marked senior day for the Minutemen and the final regular season game for graduating seniors on Rudd Field. The veteran-heavy team honored 13 seniors including Geczy, Johan Feilscher, Oliver Akintade, Hughes, Ortiz and Matt Fordham before the game.
UMass returns to action for its regular season finale on the road against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Nov. 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in New York.
Marco Lopez can be reached at [email protected].
