Oct. 4, 2002

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass men's soccer team continued its hot play with a 2-0 victory over Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both teams here today.

The Minutemen improve to 5-4-0 on the season, and have three games in a row. Xavier falls to 5-4-0 and had its modest two-game winning streak halted.

The two teams played a fairly defensive game in the opening minutes, before UMass senior Jeff Deren (Chicopee, Mass.) broke free and knocked a shot into the back of the net from a nearly impossible angle to give the Minutemen a 1-0 lead. The goal was Deren's sixth of the season. Deren has scored a goal in three straight games.

The Minutemen then got all the insurance they needed when senior Tiago Moreira (Cambridge, Mass.) scored his first career goal on a blooper that sailed over a charging Xavier goalie. The goal was assisted by Ptah Myers (Coulumbus, Ohio).

Moments after the second UMass score, tempers flared and the Minutemen lost Martin Burwell (Virginia Beach, Va.) to a red card, forcing UMass to play the remainder of the game one person down. The defense, spearheaded by goalie Enzo Altomare (Derby, Conn.), held tough and posted their second consecutive shutout. Altomare made three saves in the net, including two sprawling saves to keep the Musketeers at bay.

UMass will look to run its win streak to four games on Sunday, when Dayton comes to town for a 1:00 p.m. game at Rudd Field.

Goals: UMass- Jeff Deren 6 (unassisted; 30:50); UMass- Tiago Moreira 1 (Myers; 64:37)