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University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutemen Finish Spring Season Strong
May 06, 2003 | Men's Soccer
May 6, 2003
AMHERST, Mass. - After a slow start to the spring season that included a 2-0 loss to Boston University and a 2-2 tie with Rhode Island. The Minutemen have rebounded with two impressive wins against top level competition. On Wednesday April 17, the Minuteman hosted the Western Massachusetts Pioneers. After going down a goal early, the Minutemen fought back and evened the score on a goal by Ptah Myers (Jr Columbus, Ohio). With the score even the Minutemen began to control the game with aggresive play in the midfield led by Devlin Barnes (Jr, Bethesda, Md.) and Ernie Billitier (Fr, Chicago, Ill.). In the end, UMass won 4-2 and a solid effort was put in by the entire team.
On Sunday April 27, the UMass Sport Managment department unveiled the inaugural "New Balance SoccerFest". It was a great event highlighted by the Minutemen hosting the 2001 national champion North Carolina Tarheels. From the opening whistle it was a classic as North Carolina scored on a corner kick after only one minute of play. The setback could not deny the UMass efforts and Ernie Billitier tied the game with a sizzling shot into the lower left corner of the net only a minute after the intitial UNC goal. For the rest of the first half, North Carolina controlled the midfield with a solid organized team and capitalized on two scoring chances inside the UMass goal box to make the score 3-1 at halftime. The second half was action packed as the Minutemen came to life and quickly scored on a goal from Oral Bullen (So, Brooklyn, N.Y.) with an assist from Jeff Deren (Sr, Chicopee, Mass.). With the score 3-2 UMass continued to turn up the pressure and were nearly rewarded several times as the North Carolina Keeper made numerous saves to deny the Minutemen. In the 57th minute, North Carolina doubled their lead on a counter attack goal that made the score 4-2. The last thirty minutes was hard fought and UMass began to gain momentum with offensive pressure that made things difficult for the Tarheel defenders. A mix of short precise passes through the midfield was mixed with long balls over the top of the Tarheel defense that created good scoring opportunities and with less then ten minutes to play goals by Jeff Deren and Oral Bullen tied that score at four with only five minutes to play. With momentum on their side the Minutemen made the comeback complete with a 20 yard blast by Dan Colwell (Jr, Spencer, Mass.) that found the upper right corner of the net. The Minutemen went on to hold the lead and preserved their second consecutive victory.
UMass Men's soccer would like to send a special thank you to the entire Sport Management Department and congratulate them for a job well done on the inaugural "New Balance SoccerFest."