The No. 20 Massachusetts men’s soccer team stunned No. 6 Penn 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Alec Hughes pounced on a second half opportunity to send UMass (12-3-5, 5-2-1 Atlantic 10) to the sweet 16.
The Minutemen once again capitalized on the unique long throw-in ability of center back Matt Fordham, as they have all season long. After drying the ball with his jersey, Fordham lofted a throw into the danger area. Midfielder Kyle Stenzel picked out UMass’ star striker with a controlled header and invited him to do the rest. Hughes corralled the ball with his chest before rifling a volley past Quakers (14-4-1, 7-0 Ivy League) goalkeeper Phillip Falcon III.
Fordham has been a driving force for the Minutemen on both sides of the ball in 2024. His delicate throws into the penalty box have been a staple throughout the season. Even when the throws do not directly lead to a goal, the floated nature of them creates inevitable chaos in front of goal. Defensively, Fordham has been rock solid next to Aidan Kelly.
Penn thought it equalized the match with just under 20 minutes to play through its own prolific leading scorer, but the goal was ruled out for offside. MLS draft pick Stas Korzeniowski found some space and cleanly slid his shot into the bottom left corner, only for the assistant referee to raise his flag. After a video review, the initial call stood due to a lack of evidence that Korzeniowski was not positioned beyond Kelly at the time of the through ball.
Though Hughes provided the magic moment on the scoresheet, goalkeeper Alex Geczy can be chiefly credited for the zero on the opposite side of the scoreboard. He made a season-high seven saves of the utmost importance on a number of chances that seemed destined to nestle in the netting. The Newtown Square, Pennsylvania native put on a show in front of his friends and family, playing just half an hour away from home.
In the 55th minute, Korzeniowski came knocking. His left-footed shot rose towards the top left corner, where it was met by the outstretched right glove of Geczy. Moments later, he used two strong hands to parry away an attempt from Charlie Gaffney at the near post.
The barrage of the Quakers efforts continued as Geczy denied Korzeniowski on the other side of the pitch and Mike Willis was able to reject the follow-up shot from finding an open net. He managed a total of four saves against Penn’s main man alone. Perhaps Geczy’s most important save of the match came in the first half, when he closed out Patrick Cayelli from point-blank range to keep the game level.
Hughes had another monumental chance to put UMass on top during the first half of play. Falcon was unaware of the Minutemen’s forward lurking in the area while rolling a ball out to his defense and nearly paid the price. Hughes swooped in to intercept the ball and ultimately saw his effort come back off the crossbar. Johan Feilscher was primed for the rebound but had his header cleared off the line as well.
The woodwork both giveth and taketh away from UMass on Sunday night. After an awkward bounce in front of the goal mouth, Connor Dawson attempted to chip Geczy while he was down on the grass. The ball clipped the crossbar and landed on top of the netting, allowing the Minutemen to take a huge sigh of relief.
The second half bombardment bore no fruit for the Quakers once the final whistle was blown. The loss was just the second home defeat of the season for Penn. UMass earned its ninth clean sheet of the campaign as a unit.
The Minutemen will now visit the No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers in the third round of the NCAA tournament. Virginia defeated West Virginia 2-1 for the right to meet UMass in the round of 16. The match will take place on either Nov. 30 or Dec. 1 at a time yet to be determined.
Cameron Pellegrino can be reached at [email protected].
