AMHERST — Coming into this season, UMass men’s soccer coach Fran O’Leary challenged his team to really focus on finishing the scoring opportunities they create. Last season, the Minutemen were very competitive in the Atlantic 10, but only came away with two wins (2-1-5) in conference play due to their inability to score consistently.
During Thursday evening’s season opener, UMass once again generated several quality scoring chances. Senior forward and Atlantic 10 preseason all-conference team member Alec Hughes was able to deliver on two of those chances, as the Minutemen earned a 2-2 draw against Northeastern at Rudd Field.
UMass dominated the second half – controlling possession and out-shooting the Huskies.
“I thought we were quiet in the first half, I thought we were timid,” O’Leary said. “I thought the performance between the first and second half was night and day. Even though the score was the same, I thought our performance was night and day. We were very good in the second half. We did very well against a very good, well-coached Northeastern team.”
UMass was inches away from breaking open the contest on a few different occasions, as the Minutemen hit the crossbar twice and had a goal disallowed all in the second half. O’Leary was pleased with the offensive production from his team, luck just wasn’t on their side.
“Sometimes you just need a little bit of fortune,” O’Leary said. “If you’re hitting the crossbar instead of putting it in, sometimes you just need a little more luck. We were maybe shy a little bit of luck today, but a lot to build on given the second-half performance.”
Hughes struck first in the 25th minute, as he took a through ball from graduate senior Ryan Levay – who won a 50-50 ball at midfield moments prior – and sprinted into the box. After a slick touch around the keeper, Hughes buried a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
In the 54th minute, Hughes and the Minutemen were celebrating again. Now tied at one, UMass senior Nick Zielonka sent a beautiful through ball in the air to Hughes, who was booking it toward the net on a late run. Hughes blasted the ball on a short hop by the dive of the helpless Northeastern keeper to once again give the Minutemen the lead at 2-1.
“Alec took his first goal superbly, and the second goal was terrific,” O’Leary said. “It was a great ball in from Levay, it was a great ball from Nick Zielonka into space. Alec made a great late run. There was real quality in our goals.”
Even with the accolades and attention Hughes has garnered, he doesn’t believe there is any pressure for him to perform.
“I don’t really feel any pressure,” Hughes said. “I feel like if I just play my best, I think the goals will come based on our quality as a team and my confidence in myself.”
Northeastern’s two goals were carbon-copies of each other. The first came in the 44th minute – right before halftime – and the second in the 70th minute. On both instances, senior Federico Tellez took the corner kick for the Huskies. Each time he sent the ball perfectly into the middle of the box, where graduate senior Jack Monte elevated above the UMass defense to head the ball into the back of the net.
A season ago, the Minutemen had one of the best corner-kick defenses in the league – not surrendering a single tally off them in conference play.
“We’ve got to attack,” O’Leary said of his defense’s lack of aggression on those two corner kicks. “We’ll be in our zones, and you’ve got to come meet the ball. We’ll pick it apart, we’ll learn and we’ll improve.”
Hughes believes, with the majority of UMass’ main contributors back this year, that the Minutemen have what it takes to be very competitive once again in 2023. Their success doesn’t come down to whether or not they are talented enough, because they are, it relies on how determined they choose to be on a game-to-game basis.
“I think we have the ability to be really competitive,” Hughes said. “It depends on us and how we play and how we perform. If we can compete game in and game out, I think we could put a really special season together.”
UMass turns the page to Central Connecticut State for a 5 p.m. home match on Monday.
The Minutewomen are 1-0-2 in the early going of the 2023 season.
UMass defeated Stony Brook 2-1 on Aug. 17 behind an 85th minute goal from Nia Hislop. The Minutewomen dominated the second half on both ends, putting six shots on goal to Stony Brook’s two. The other UMass goal came in the 60th minute, when Ashley Lamond found the back of the net – both Emma Pedolzky and Grace Pinkus picked up assists.
Three days later the Minutewomen returned to action against Vanderbilt. Despite being outshot 23-4, UMass relied heavily on its defense and the goalkeeping duo of Bella Mendoza (five saves) and Megan Olszewski.
On Thursday, goals from Pinkus and Bella Recinos helped the Minutewomen to a 2-2 draw with UMass Lowell on the road.
UMass hopes to ride the momentum of its first few weeks through the remainder of non-conference play. Its next game comes on Sunday on the road against Yale at 5 p.m.
Coming off an impressive 2022 season, one in which the Minutewomen went 14-6 (6-1 Atlantic 10) and lost in the conference championship game, UMass welcomes yet another difficult schedule this year. The Minutewomen will face six nationally ranked opponents, including No. 19 Albany in the season opener on the road. That contest is slated for Friday at 2 p.m.
Earlier this week, Jess Beech, Mali Herberhold and Myrte van Herwijnen were named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Team. UMass will lean on these three as they look to make it right back to the A-10 title game.
