The road has been unkind to the Massachusetts men’s soccer team so far this season.
Halfway through a season-long four game road trip, the Minutemen (2-2-1) have been unable to crack the code of winning on the road.
After dropping two straight one-goal games to the hands of the Adelphi and Hartford, UMass is hoping that it can finally break through and capture its first road win of the season on Saturday when it takes on New Hampshire.
Claiming a victory in Durham won’t come easy for the Minutemen, as they will be facing a tough Wildcats (3-2-1) squad that is in the midst of a three-game unbeaten streak, including a 2-1 win at Penn and a 2-0 win against Central Connecticut State.
New Hampshire is led by sophomore goalkeeper Travis Worra, who was recently named America East Co-Player of the Week. He recorded two straight shutouts for the Wildcats and has posted a 0.22 goals-against average in four starts. Worra’s 22 saves has lifted his record to 2-0-1 on the season.
Not to be outdone is UMass senior goalkeeper Brian Frame, who has carried the load for the Minutemen this season, playing in all five games and surrendering only five goals. He has only given up more than one goal once this year and has two shutouts on the season.
“This is his first year playing, as the starting goalkeeper,” UMass coach Koch told UMass Athletics. “He started some games last year, so he’s a senior, but he’s almost like a rookie and he’s done tremendously well.”
The Minutemen are coming off a 3-2 loss to Hartford, but can take a major positive out of the fact that it has finally broken the one-goal barrier this season.
UMass struggled to find the back of the net last season, scoring nine goals in 19 games. But the Minutemen have already scored five goals in five games this season, with Wednesday’s loss marking the first multi-goal game since an Oct. 1 win over Bradley last season.
Sophomore Josh Schwartz leads the team with two goals this season, while Connor DeVivo, Matt Keys and Dan Sangster have also found the back of the net.
On the other side of the field, the Wildcats are led by Jordan Thomas, Angel Maldonado and Paul Bianchi, who all have two points on the season.
Dating back to 1998, the Minutemen are 5-8-1 against the Wildcats, with 10 of the 14 matches decided by one goal or less and the last three games going into double-overtime, including last season’s contest which UMass won 1-0.
The game is scheduled for Saturday night at New Hampshire’s Bremner Field in Durham, N.H., with kick-off slated for 7p.m.
Patrick Strohecker can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at MDC_Strohecker.
