Recently in Soccer Category
This weekend UMass will play host to St. Bonaventure (Friday at 2:30 pm) and Duquesne (Sunday at 1 pm) at Rudd Field. The Minutemen are currently in a five-way log-jam for ninth place in the 16-team Atlantic 10 standings. Three teams are a mere one point ahead in a tie for fifth. The top eight teams after the end of next weekend's regular-season will advance to the A-10 Championship in Charlotte.
Here's a weekend preview written by Nick Canelas of the Daily Collegian.
Dan Malone from the Daily Collegian has a story on the emergence and importance of sophomore Matt Keys and Josh Schwartz.
While it may not be obvious to the majority of fans, it should really come as no surprise that Matt Keys and Josh Schwartz have played with such successful coherence for the Massachusetts men's soccer team this season.
To the outside observer, there might not be a more mismatched pair of players on the team. Keys, at 6-foot-4 inches tall, is a physically-imposing presence, while the 5-foot-6-inch Schwartz, is anything but. UMass assistant coach Devin O'Neill knows there's more to this talented sophomore duo than meets the eye, however.
Taylor Snow of the Daily Collegian has a recap of the weekend's play that saw the men's soccer team split on the road with No. 18/25 Charlotte and George Washington. UMass dropped a 4-0 decision to the 49ers, who are also 12th in the most recent NCAA RPI, before rebounding for a 3-0 triumph over the Colonials on their Senior Day.
Speaking of Senior Day, UMass will celebrate its four seniors this weekend with a Friday contest against St. Bonaventure at 2:30 p.m. and on Sunday versus Duquesne at 1 p.m.
Dan Malone of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian has a preview of this weekend's men's soccer road contests, at No. 12 Charlotte Friday night and George Washington on Sunday afternoon.
With six games remaining, the Minutemen are tied for 11th place in the 16-team league. The top eight teams with the highest point totals in conference play will qualify for the postseason tournament, held Nov. 8-11 in Charlotte.
The UMass men's soccer team split a pair of contests over the weekend and now stand at 4-6-2 overall and 1-2 in Atlantic 10 play. The three points with six games remaining in the schedule place the Minutemen tied for 11th place in the 16-team league. The top eight teams with the highest point totals in conference games will qualify for the postseason tournament, held Nov. 8-11 in Charlotte.
Here is a recap of both contests from Dan Malone of the Daily Collegian.  MassLive Photo Gallery (vs. Temple)
With a sizable break in the schedule before Atlantic 10 play begins next weekend at Rhode Island, the UMass men's soccer team will head to the Great White North to take on the University of Montreal in an exhibition game Sunday afternoon.
Daily Collegian writer Patrick Strohecker spoke with first-year assistant coach Devin O'Neill about the trip, including playing time during the game and evaluating the season to this point.
The website Soccer Banter recently conducted a Q&A with head men's soccer coach Sam Koch about his 30 years of coaching soccer and his current battle with sinus cancer.
Sometimes fate helps you meet great people. Sam Koch, the University of Massachusetts Head Men's Soccer Coach, is one of those great people that I've been fortunate to meet. Though I am finally officially interviewing him, it seems like over the past two years I have been interviewing him on a daily basis: whether it's in his office, or over lunch, or when we are really lucky with a pint in our hand. Sam can tell a story unlike many others, and he has plenty of stories to tell (sometimes you're real lucky and hear them for a 2nd or 3rd time). He has been coaching college soccer for over 30 years, serving as the head coach at Stanford for six years, and currently in his 22nd year at UMass. In August, Koch was diagnosed with sinus cancer. Not surprisingly, he's approaching this battle head on, and with the same resilient attitude he brings to work everyday.
The men's soccer team suffered its first home loss on Tuesday, 2-0 at the hands of a very good Syracuse team. The Minutemen had four shots in the contest, including a close-in header by Matt Keys that went just high of the crossbar late in the second half.
The Minutemen will play an exhibition game at Montreal on Sunday before opening Atlantic 10 play next weekend at Rhode Island. MassLive Photo Gallery
Tuesday looks to be a big day at Rudd Field as the UMass men's soccer team (3-3-2) welcomes Syracuse (7-2) to Amherst for a 3:30 p.m. match. The game will mark the final regular-season game before Atlantic 10 play begins in 11 days at Rhode Island. Patrick Strohecker of the Daily Collegian offers up the following preview of the first-ever men's soccer meeting between the two schools.
Don't forget that if you can't make it to the field today, you can watch online and check out live stats via Gametracker today at 3:30 p.m. The game is also available on CBS 3 (Comcast Channel 293, Charter Channel 290 and UMass Cable Channel 79).
The UMass Men's Soccer team improved to 3-3-2 overall and 3-0-1 at home with a 2-0 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday. They will be back in action on Tuesday when they play Syracuse at 3:30 p.m. at Rudd Field. This will be the first-ever meeting with the Orange.
Until then, you can check out a recap from the Daily Collegian, a photo gallery from Mass Live and the postgame interview from the weekend.
Jeff Thomas of the Springfield Republican has an in-depth article with longtime UMass men's soccer coach Sam Koch and his ongoing battle with sinus cancer, which has included daily trips to Boston for treatments.
The UMass men's soccer team travels west to New York to face Siena (2-4) this afternoon in its final contest of a four-game road stretch. The Minutemen are 2-2-2 on the season and 0-2-1 on the trip this far, with both losses by one goal. Nick Canelas and Taylor Snow of the Daily Collegian each have an article in today's campus paper. Take a read and don't forget you can watch online and check out live stats via Gametracker today at 3 pm.
The Daily Collegian writing tandem of Taylor Snow and Nick Canelas have a couple of articles on the soccer team and Wednesday's 7 p.m. road contest at Hartford.
Remember, if you aren't able to make the drive down to West Hartford tonight, you can watch the game via HartfordHawks.com's subscription video service and follow along with live stats.
The men's soccer team will open a four-game road trip on Saturday when it travels to New York to face Adelphi at 1:00 p.m. Daily Collegian writer Nick Canelas has a preview of the contest, while also writing on what has worked and what is a work-in-progress for the Minutemen during their 2-0-1 start.
It appears as if the Massachusetts men's
soccer team has enjoyed the friendly confines of Rudd Field so far this season.
The Daily Collegian has a couple of season previews on the men's soccer team, along with a feature story on sophomore forward Josh Schwartz.
The UMass men's soccer team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 1-0 win over Vermont on Monday. That's back-to-back shutouts for head coach Sam Koch's boys so far, with a doubleheader at Rudd Field against Harvard on Friday. The women get things started at 1:30 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Check out some recaps, photo galleries and post-game interviews below.
Chris Roswess will join the Western Mass Pioneers for a third season as announced by the club on Monday. A native of West Springfield, Mass., Roswess was a senior for the Minutemen in the fall and played in 73 games during his career.
Happy Birthday to men's soccer player Michael Doherty and softball player Kyllie Magil!
Happy birthday to Katelyn Allocco of rowing, Andrew Henshaw of men's soccer, Erin Phinny of women's swimming, Jacob Reed of men's track and Hellah Sidibe of mens soccer!
Jackson Alexander of the Daily Collegian recaps the men's soccer team's loss to Rhode Island on Sunday.
Stephen Hewitt of The Daily Collegian takes a look at the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer postseason picture as the season winds down to its final two regular-season weekends.
Jackson Alexander of The Daily Collegian has a preview of this weekend's home games for the UMass men's soccer team against George Washington (Friday) and Richmond (Sunday).
Happy birthday to Brian Frame of men's soccer and Dominic Wooten of football!
 
The UMass men's soccer team fell at Duquesne 4-0 on Friday before bouncing back to force a 0-0 double-overtime draw at St. Bonaventure on Sunday to stay in the hunt in the Atlantic 10 Tournament race as the season winds down to its final two weeks.
Jackson Alexander of the Daily Collegian has a recap of the men's soccer team's strong weekend at Fordham and La Salle over the weekend which kept them among the league's top six teams after the second week of A-10 play.
Stephen Hewitt of The Daily Collegian has a preview of this weekend's A-10 matches at Fordham and La Salle.
Stephen Sellner of The Daily Collegian looks at how the tough non-conference road schedule earlier this season has prepared UMass for this weekend's key Atlantic 10 matches at Fordham and La Salle.
Jackson Alexander of the Daily Collegian looks at the strength of men's soccer in the Atlantic 10 this year.
Stephen Hewitt looks at the beginning of the Atlantic 10 schedule for the UMass men's soccer team this Friday and Sunday. The Minutemen will host No. 14 Charlotte at Rudd Field on Friday afternoon and Saint Louis on Sunday.
It was a wild one on Saturday at Rudd Field as the UMass men's soccer team defeated No. 19 Bradley thanks to a late game-winning goal from sophomore Brett Canepa. The match was the non-conference finale for the Minutemen who will open Atlantic 10 play this weekend against Charlotte and Saint Louis at Rudd Field on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The UMass men's soccer team heads to Dartmouth on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match after falling earlier this week to Hartford at Rudd Field. The Daily Collegian has coverage of the upcoming game.
Happy Birthday to Dave Key of men's soccer and Raymond Pendagast of football! Dave and the mens soccer team take on Hartford today at 3:30.
 
The UMass men's soccer team will host Hartford today at 3:30 PM at Rudd Field. The Daily Collegian takes a look at the game and what the Minutemen need to do for the win.
Happy Birthday to Nik Campero and Ron Wallace of baseball and Josh Gosselin of men's soccer!
  
Stephen Sellner of the Daily Collegian has a sidebar on the men's soccer team's loss to Boston University on Sunday and how the game was a tale of two halves: The Daily Collegian
The UMass men's soccer team will head to Harvard tonight for a 7 PM kick-off before returning home on Sunday to host Boston University at Rudd Field. The Daily Collegian has a pair of stories to preview the weekend.
After Friday afternoon's thrilling 1-0 double overtime win against New Hampshire in the Vermont Windjammer Classic, the UMass men's soccer team suffered a tough loss on Sunday afternoon in the tournament finale to host Vermont, 1-0. The Catamounts converted a penalty kick in the 68th minute to break the deadlock.
Stephen Hewitt of the Daily Collegian looks at UMass' top returning scorer and captain Bryant Craft as he looks to build upon his strong junior season from last year for the men's soccer team. Previously a midfielder, Craft moved up top to a forward position to bolster the Minutemen's scoring.
Massachusetts men's soccer coach Sam Koch doesn't like to predict. He doesn't like to gaze too far ahead into the future and would rather focus on what he can control now. But if he had to guess who the team's offense would revolve around and who the Minutemen's leading goal producer would be by season's end, he would be hard pressed not to choose his senior captain and star striker, Bryant Craft. 
The UMass soccer team heads to Delaware today to face the Blue Hens in the season-opener for both teams. Kick-off is slated for 1 PM and Live Stats are available. Click here for the 2011 Quick Facts on the UMass soccer team.
This will be just the second meeting all-time between the two programs on the pitch. UMass won the game against the Blue Hens back in 1989.
"It's the 20th year at the University of Massachusetts for men's soccer coach Sam Koch, and most of the changes have been off the field.


"I wasn't married then, I didn't have kids and my hair is a lot grayer now," said Koch, who has four children. "But as far as soccer goes, I'm old school. We had blue collar kids then and we have blue collar kids now." 

And it's almost been forgotten that Koch was the head coach at Stanford for six years before taking the top spot at UMass. Overall, he has recorded 262 wins against 192 losses and 51 ties. At UMass, he's 204-139-56, including a trip to the NCAA Division I semifinals in 2007, so here's a guy that has some perspective on the game. Read more of Dick Baker's Two decades of UMass soccer; men's coach Sam Koch still wears his collar blue
The UMass men's soccer team came away with a 1-0 exhibition match win at Providence this afternoon thanks to a goal from freshman Josh Schwartz that was assisted by Hellah Sidibe. Brian Frame and Shane Curran-Hays each played a half in goal for the win.
UMass All-Access caught up with team captains Bryant Craft and David Key on Thursday to speak about the upcoming season.
The Atlantic 10 released its 2011 Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll yesterday with the Minutemen predicted to finish 9th among the 14 teams in the league. Charlotte was picked to win the league.
Happy belated birthday to Joey Sbordon of men's swimming & diving who celebrated his birthday on July 15. Happy belated birthdays to football's Antoine Tharpe, and Tyler Major, Molly Papish of women's swimming & diving, Patrick Holmes of men's soccer, who all celebrated their birthday on July 16.
UMass soccer alum Jonathan Gruber was inducted into the Norwich Sports Hall of Fame over the weekend. Gruber was a goalkeeper for UMass from 1989-91 earning Atlantic 10 All-Conference and All-New England honors.
Jonathan Gruber He was an NFA soccer team captain, and earned all-conference and all-area honors in the sport in addition to shining in basketball and baseball. He was first-team All-Atlantic Conference and first-team All-New England for UMass soccer.
Wednesday night's Premier Development League match between the Western Mass. Pioneers and the Vermont Voltage was suspended because of lightning and will be made up at a date and time to be determined.
The game was stopped in the 27th minute, the game scoreless at the time. Team officials and the referee decided the field was playable after the first couple of heavy downpours, but the game started 30 minutes late. It was quickly stopped in the 27th minute when flashes of lightning came a little too close for comfort. As for the U.S. Open Cup, which the Pioneers qualified for when they defeated MPS Portland 1-0 Friday, Western Mass. has been matched up against FC New York of the United Soccer Leagues Pro League. The game will be played at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., June 14.
The Western Mass Pioneers will host the Vermont Voltage tonight at Lusitano Stadium. The Pioneers are coming off a win at Portland, 1-0, thanks to a Chris Roswess goal. The win gave the PDL squad a berth in the U.S. Open Cup.
Along with Roswess, UMass standouts Bryant Craft, Andrew Henshaw and Tyler Cleverdon are members of the Pioneers this summer.
LUDLOW - West Springfield's Chris Roswess scored in the 71st minute and
the Western Mass. Pioneers earned a 1-0 win over the Portland Phoenix
Friday night to claim one of the nine U.S. Open Cup berths from the
Premier Development League.
Roswess, who plays at the University of Massachusetts, came on in the second half and provided the Pioneers a spark in the offensive third. After scoring he then gave the Lusitano Stadium faithful a show with an acrobatic flip in celebration. "I just got a ball into my feet from Tommy (McNamara) and turned,'' Roswess said. "I didn't even look at the net really, just struck it and it went bottom corner.''
The Western Mass Pioneers forced a 0-0 draw with the Vermont Voltage last night. They will host the Portland Phoenix on Friday with a chance for a spot in the U.S. Open Cup.
UMass' Tyler Cleverdon, Bryant Craft, Chris Roswess, and Andrew Henshaw all play for the Pioneers of the Premier Development League.
Happy birthday on May 26 to Shane Curran-Hays of the men's soccer team. Shane is currently in Philadelphia representing UMass at the Atlantic 10 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) meetings which finish up today. 
The Western Mass Pioneers (2-0) will return to action tonight at 7 PM as they head to the Vermont Voltage at St. Albans.
The Pioneers feature UMass products Bryant Craft, Tyler Cleverdon, Andrew Henshaw and Chris Roswess. The game will not have an impact on the Premier Development League standings, but a win would make them 3-0 in Open Cup qualifying setting up Friday's match against Portland to determine which team advance to the U.S. Open Cup.
Jeff Thomas of the Springfield Republican previews the start of the Premier Development League and the Western Mass Pioneers. UMass men's soccer standouts Andrew Henshaw and Chris Roswess will both play for the PDL team this season.
On April 29, Happy Birthday to a pair of freshmen: lacrosse face-off man Joe Calvello and soccer forward Connor DeVivo.
  Best wishes for a great birthday on the final day of February to women's soccer player Kayla Austin, men's basketball freshman Maxie Esho and men's soccer junior Chris Stoker.    Happy Birthday on Feb. 24 to senior swimmer Jony Menozzi and sophomore men's soccer player Dominic Skrajewski.   Happy Birthday on Feb. 8 to junior men's lacrosse attacker Steve D'Amario and senior midfielder Ashley Hamel.   A quartet of UMass student-athlete birthdays on Feb. 5. Celebrating today are women's soccer junior Natalie Muka, men's soccer freshman Nigel Negm, field hockey freshman Hannah Prince and swimming junior Liz Sullivan.    
Freshman Robbie Bergquist of the men's soccer team is featured on the main University web site for the work he and his sister have done by creating Cell Phones For Soldiers.
Six years ago Robbie Bergquist '14 and his sister, Brittany, created an initiative that has worked wonders in keeping warriors in combat zones in touch with their families back home. Cell Phones for Soldiers, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has thus far raised some $8 million in donations and distributed more than 1.5 million prepaid calling cards to American soldiers serving overseas.
Happy Birthday on Jan. 13 to Assistant Athletic Trainer Lacy Gunn along with soccer's Ben Arikian, softball's Candace Waldie and swimmer Eric Zeimetz
   Also, best wishes for a happy birthday to Assistant Athletic Trainer Lacy Gunn. 
Our first birthday of the new year for UMass student-athletes is freshman soccer player Robbie Bergquist. Happy Birthday on Jan. 2 Robbie.
Happy Birthday to this trio, celebrating on Dec. 10: tennis freshman Jessica Podlofsky, soccer senior Chris Vaccaro and junior track jumper Daniel Wu.
  
Best wishes for a great birthday on Nov. 9 to rower Katelyn Allocco, men's soccer players Andrew Henshaw and Hellah Sidibe as well as swimmer Erin Phinney
The men's soccer team heads to Charlotte tonight and then Saint Louis on Sunday afternoon to finish the regular-season schedule. A trip to the A-10 Tournament is on the line as the Minutemen need at least one win to secure a spot in the field of six. UMass currently ranks third in the league, while Charlotte is No. 1. The Daily Collegian has a complete preview of the weekend.
Join us on Wednesday afternoon for the UMass Sports Luncheon at the Campus Center Room 1009. The guest speakers will be soccer coach Sam Koch, hockey coach Toot Cahoon and football coach Kevin Morris.
The Athletes of the Week Katie Kelly from field hockey as well as Tyler Holmes from football will be honored.
Tough weekend for the UMass men's soccer team as they fell to Fordham 1-0 on Friday and forced a 1-1 draw against La Salle on Sunday. The Minutemen, however, are still in the top six of the A-10 standings and remain a viable threat for both a spot in the tournament and a No. 1 seed with a huge weekend against No. 1 Charlotte and Saint Louis upcoming.
Daily Collegian Recap: Minutemen close out regular season at Rudd with draw Daily Collegian Sidebar: Seniors remaining from College Cup run help in draw with Explorers NewEnglandSoccerNews.com: UMass Comes Back To Draw La Salle 1-1 La Salle Highlights:
With two weeks left in the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer season, things are starting to heat up. The Minutemen, currently in 2nd place, host Fordham who is log-jammed in a six-way tie for fourth today at Rudd Field (2:30 PM). La Salle, who is also tied with Fordham, visits Rudd Field on Sunday (1 PM) which will be Senior Day for the Minutemen.
Daily Collegian Preview: Minutemen wrap up home schedule over weekend Daily Collegian Sidebar: DeVivo impressing in freshman season for Minutemen DeVivo hasn't had much playing time with the Minutemen this season, so one must wonder if this recent string of success will have any impact on him playing more often. "It's tough, we've got to come out and practice everyday and that's how we base our playing time," DeVivo said. "I just come in and do my role. Coach talks about playing your role and if everyone does that, we'll be successful. So I'm just going come in and do what I have to do when I come in and see how it plays out." Adam Miller of the Daily Collegian has a nice column on the veteran leadership provided to the men's soccer team by goalkeeper Chris Piekos. Goalkeeper Chris Piekos is not your average senior. You only need to look at his age - 26 years old - to figure that out. To put that in perspective, when the keeper graduated high school, midfielder Stuart Amick - also a senior - just graduated junior high. While he is significantly older than any of his teammates, Piekos isn't playing for the Massachusetts men's soccer team at his age because of academic problems, but because of his willingness to serve for his country. After his freshman year at Rivier College, Piekos served two deployments over four years in Iraq and received a Bronze Star. Needless to say, his background is a little off the beaten trail for a soccer player.
Check out the Plays of the Week for Oct. 18-24!
After a stout start to Atlantic 10 play with four shutouts and just one goal allowed, the UMass men's soccer team is starting to climb the ranks of the national defensive stat charts. Keeper Chris Piekos now ranks 8th nationally in save percentage (.870), 9th in saves per game (5.58) and 26th in goals-against average (0.739). With 6 assists, Ben Arikian ranks 29th in total assists and 36th in assists per game. In the Atlantic 10 (Conference-Only Stats Leaders), UMass leads the league in goals allowed (1), goals-against-average (0.19), and shutouts (4) in five games played. Piekos leads the league in GAA, Shutouts and save percentage (.962).
The men's soccer team had a huge weekend sweeping Temple and Saint Joseph's on the road this past weekend to remain undefeated (4-0-1) in Atlantic 10 play to stay in 2nd place in the league standings.
Daily Collegian: Minutemen finish strong over Saint Joseph's & Temple New England Soccer News: UMass edges St. Joseph's 1-0
On Oct. 25, we wish Happy Birthday to sophomore soccer goalkeeper Brian Frame and freshman footballer Dominic Wooten.
 
The men's soccer team continues its march to the Atlantic 10 Tournament this weekend with a pair of games down in Philly starting today at Temple (2:30 PM). The Minutemen will then face Saint Joseph's on Sunday at 1 PM.
With the 1-0 win at Rhode Island on Saturday night, UMass remains unbeaten in the Atlantic 10 (2-0-1) and sits in third place in the league standings. UMass is two points out of second (Xavier) and and five out of first (unbeaten Charlotte) - both teams have played one more game than the Minutemen.
The Daily Collegian's Steve Levine recapped the Atlantic 10 opener for the UMass Men's Soccer team last weekend. The Minutemen shutout Xavier 2-0, which saw Morgan Brandso net his first collegiate goal last Friday before battling to a 1-1 draw with Dayton on Sunday.
Herb Scribner has a sidebar in Tuesday's Collegian regarding corner kicks last weekend. "Thus far in the 2010 campaign, the Minutemen have given up 59 corner kicks, with 15 of them coming in the first two A-10 matches alone."
Wishing a Happy Birthday to Tyler Cleverdon, freshman on the men's soccer team as he celebrates on Oct. 6.
After falling behind 2-0, Bryant Craft and Stuart Amick each tallied 2nd half goals and the UMass men's soccer defense settled in forcing a 2-2 draw with Siena to wrap up the non-conference portion of the schedule. Here are the recaps from the game:
Despite some early fireworks with first half goals for each side, the UMass men's soccer team fought Dartmouth to a 1-1 double-overtime draw on Wednesday afternoon. It was the fifth double overtime match of the year for the Minutemen. Keeper Chris Piekos was the Man of the Match with a career-high 12 saves to keep the Big Green at bay as the ripped off 22 shots on the day.
HIGHLIGHTS:
POSTMATCH INTERVIEWS:
The men's soccer team will host Dartmouth this afternoon (3 PM) at Rudd Field in the second-to-last non-conference match of the season. Steve Levine of the Daily Collegian previews the match and the Big Green's top-two scoring threats.
Despite scoring some timely goals and having several multi-goal games, the Minutemen haven't finished a lot of prime scoring chances. Herb Scribner of the Daily Collegian looks at the UMass offensive production and what UMass can do to put a few more goals in the back of the net. Be sure to support the Minutemen at Rudd Field this afternoon. Admission is free to all!
It was a tough loss on Saturday for the UMass men's soccer team as the Minutemen fell to New Hampshire 1-0 in double overtime at Rudd Field. Jon Harris scored the Golden Goal in the 109th minute of play. UMass continues its eight-game home stand this Wednesday against Dartmouth (3 PM) and on Saturday against Siena (1 PM). Both games will be televised live on CBS3 Now (Comcast Digital Channel 293).
Steve Levine of the Daily College has recap from yesterday's 2-2 draw against Vermont. While the Minutemen went up 2-1 midway through the first half, they could not hold on for the win after the Catamounts scored the equalizer early in the second half. From that point, neither team could score again.
Herb Scribner of the Daily Collegian wrote a sidebar today following the draw with Vermont about the offensive production the Minutemen have been able to accomplish after starting the season with that goal in mind.
Since day one of the 2010 campaign, Massachusetts soccer coach Sam Koch has stressed the importance of incorporating offense into the Minutemen's game plan. Thursday afternoon's match against Vermont saw the culmination of that idea. Despite drawing, 2-2 against the Catamounts, the Minutemen played aggressively on the offensive side of the pitch throughout the entire match, taking 17 shots, four of which were on target.
It was a pair of 2-1 games for the UMass men's soccer team this past Friday and Sunday. The good was a 2-1 win for the Minutemen over UCF, while unfortunately Sunday was a 2-1 loss to No. 24 Indiana at Rudd Field. Three different newcomers (freshman Brett Canepa, freshman Tyler Cleverdon, and sophomore Hellah Sidibe) all scored goals.
Coverage:
While Sunday's game against Indiana promises to be a great college soccer game for multiple reasons, for UMass senior midfielder Stuart Amick, the game against Indiana is a bit more personal. A native of West Lafayette, Indiana, Amick grew up just two hours north of Bloomington and played club soccer with several current Hoosiers. Herb Scribner of the Daily Collegian profiles Amick's connections with his home-state team.
Steve Levine of the Daily Collegian takes a look at this weekend's pair of matches for the men's soccer team against UCF and #24 Indiana. Out of Conference USA, UCF has started the season on a high note with a 3-1 record, while the Hoosiers of the Big 10 are one of the dynasty programs of college soccer with 7 national championship titles.
TopDrawerSoccer.com ran the first of its weekly list of the top 100 college soccer players in America. UMass' Ben Arikian was listed as the 50th-best player and the top player from the Atlantic 10 Conference. Arikian was named to the preseason Hermann Trophy Watch List and was named a preseason All-American for the second consecutive season entering 2010. Arikian and the Minutemen will host UCF on Friday and #24 Indiana on Sunday at Rudd Field.
Check out the first edition of Plays Of The Week for this fall! There was plenty to choose from as UMass teams went 5-0-1 over the weekend, but these are the plays that made the cut.
The Daily Collegian and Springfield Republican each ran recaps of Saturday's draw at Fairfield. UMass is now 0-1-2 to start the season as UCF and No. 18 Indiana visit Rudd Field the Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Join us at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday for the UMass Sports Luncheon at the Campus Center's Massachusetts Room 1009. The guest speakers today are Athletic Director John McCutcheon, football coach Kevin Morris and men's soccer coach Sam Koch.
Also, the Co-Athletes of the Week from the football team, Tyler Holmes and Jonathan Hernandez will be honored for their big games in the 27-23 win over William & Mary on Saturday.
Steve Levine has a nice feature in today's Daily Collegian on Bryant Craft and his strong start to the season. Craft has two goals in the first two games of the year after moving from the midfield up to forward for the Minutemen. According to Levine, "He credits his early success to the hard work he did over the summer when he played alongside teammate Ben Arikian and even some former Major League Soccer players on Long Island, N.Y."
It was a good fight for the Minutemen and had the crossbar on the goal been an inch higher, it could have been a different outcome yesterday at Rudd Field against No. 10 Harvard. The Crimson earned a 3-2 win over the men's soccer team in front of a great crowd of 1,062 fans. Coverage of the game can be found at The Daily Collegian, The Republican, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, and NewEnglandSoccerNews.com.
HIGHLIGHTS:
KOCH POSTGAME INTERVIEW
The men's soccer team will kick-off the 2010 season tonight at Boston University. The match is slated for a 7 PM start at Nickerson Field. Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette has a season preview out today. Vautour writes "The University of Massachusetts men's soccer team features an experienced defense, two battle-tested goalies and one of the best players in the country in Ben Arikian. If the Minutemen can find a way to score some goals here and there, they might be pretty good." BU head coach Neil Roberts gives his thoughts of the Terriers and the Minutemen in this video interview.
A big day of birthdays for UMass student-athletes on Aug. 29: Stephane Aguguo (track & field), Marc Concannon (hockey), Perry McIntyre (football), Chris Roswess (men's soccer)
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