Liam Gainey’s goal, Dean Linden’s excellence in net leads UMass men’s soccer past UML, 1-0

AMHERST — Another season, another win against the in-state rival.

The UMass men’s soccer team continued its reign over UMass Lowell after its 1-0 win at Rudd Field on Wednesday afternoon.

The Minutemen have not lost to the River Hawks since the 2019 season.

“[Lowell] has improved every year, so it was a really hard-fought game,” UMass head coach Fran O’Leary said. “We had the setback against Harvard, and we needed a dose of confidence. We knew we’d have to tough out this game and we did.”

Wednesday’s victory improved the Minutemen’s 2026 record to 2-1-1 on the season, following its 4-1 loss to the Crimson last week in Cambridge.

Graduate transfer Liam Gainey pocketed the game’s only goal, taking advantage of an errant clear from UML goalie Alvaro Medrano, early in the second half.

Medrano’s clearing attempt ricocheted off a River Hawk defender, leading to UMass quickly regaining possession well within the offensive end. With Medrano suddenly out of position, Jack Comey fed Gainey at the top of the box, who then fluttered in the deciding strike, making it 1-0 at 55:10 of play.

“He’s like a workhorse, he’s played practically every minute,” O’Leary said of Gainey. “He runs himself into the ground. He’s a big, physical presence. He’s been a great addition to UMass.”

Gainey starred for Western Illinois for the past four seasons, leading the team in goals in both 2024 and 2025.

While Gainey supplied the offense, Minutemen goalkeeper Dean Linden was hard at work in between the pipes, racking up three saves throughout the contest for the Westford native’s first shutout of the season.

Linden’s most crucial stop for UMass occurred less than five minutes into the second half, turning aside a UML penalty-kick opportunity. River Hawks’ Linus Musielak tried fooling Linden with a slow trickler, but Linden read it the whole way, swallowing up the shot and keeping the game tied, 0-0, at that point.

“Just like forwards live on goals, goalkeepers live on clean sheets,” O’Leary said. “It’s great to get a clean sheet but it’s especially good if you’ve played a huge role, which Dean did.”

Linden’s two other stops came in the second half as the visitors were pressing nearly the entire frame after Gainey’s go-ahead tally.

The Minutemen’s defense held on despite three corner-kick opportunities for UML, plus numerous free kicks, in the final 45 minutes.

UMass will turn its attention to nationally-ranked Princeton next, who come to Rudd Field on Monday, Sept. 7. The Tigers are currently 23rd in the United Soccer Coaches Poll.

“It’s a good camaraderie, they want to work for each other, they want to get better every day,” O’Leary said of the Minutemen. “I think we have a chance to have a competitive season. We’ll need to get a few guys back, we were short a few [Wednesday], so if we get them back, I think we’ll be a strong squad.”