A warm Saturday afternoon was met with a battle between the Massachusetts men’s soccer team and its ninth foe of the season, Yale. The Minutemen (4-2-3) and Bulldogs (0-4-2) fought to a 2-2 draw. Forward John Paul Mbuthia and midfielder Matt Cence hammered in both goals for UMass.
Just 12 minutes after the Minutemen’s first goal of the game, Cence broke the 1-1 tie with a shot that found its way around Yale’s defense. Aidan Kelly drew a foul outside of the box, giving UMass a dangerous set-piece. Cence and Thomas Wadas both stood over the ball, but it was ultimately Cence who delivered a curling shot to the far post that bounced over the diving Conrad Lee to give the Minutemen a 2-1 lead with 30 minutes left in the game. Cence’s goal tally is now at three for the season.
UMass was in control for most of the game, keeping the ball in the opposing team’s half and firing shots at will. The Minutemen applied heavy pressure to the Bulldogs’ defense, sending 24 shots with 12 on target, as well as 12 corner kicks.
Mbuthia broke through for UMass with a strong header in the 59th minute off a cross by Kelly. The senior was left open outside of the box, giving him plenty of time to scan the field and float a pass into a dangerous area. Mbuthia timed his run and flicked a header past Lee to make it a 1-1 game early in the second half. The header was the graduate student’s fourth goal of the season.
“[Mbuthia] has been great, it’s great to get him back because we missed him for a few games,” head coach Fran O’Leary said. “He is averaging almost a goal a game while he plays, so we’re excited to have him back.”
Yale, however, capitalized on its opportunities. Within the first 16 minutes, Bulldogs freshman Angelo Zhu broke through on the possession change, knifing his way through multiple Minutemen defenders and drawing a penalty in the box. Zhu gave Yale the lead by sinking the shot into the bottom left corner of the net.
UMass had many more chances to score, but senior goalkeeper Lee met almost every shot from the Minutemen. Lee had a season-high 10 saves, including a penalty and a goal-line rejection.
UMass could not hold on to the lead as Bulldogs defender Sven Meacham slid a shot into a crowd of Minutemen bodies, sending the ball bouncing into the goal to tie the game in the 84th minute.
“We did a very good job of winning the battles [against] Yale; they are a strong and physical team,” O’Leary said. “We beat them to the ball on many occasions [but] it’s a cruel game… we missed a penalty and gave away a cheap goal late [into the game]. We have to learn from that.”
As the offense thrived, the defense struggled, allowing four goals in two games and earning two clean sheets out of nine matches.
“I think the biggest thing for us is that we have given away two goals,” O’Leary said. “I said to them, ‘If we get a clean sheet today, then we [would have] won the game.’”
UMass looks to get back into the win column as they head to Newark, Del. to face off against Delaware University on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. The game can be watched on the Summit League Network.
Adam Kysiak can be reached at [email protected].
