Men's Soccer Set To Open Season In California

Aug. 31, 2004

What's On Tap ... Massachusetts opens up the 2004 campaign by participating in the diadora Classic hosted by the University of San Francisco. UMass will face No. 5 Santa Clara on Thursday at 8:30 EST and then San Francisco on Saturday at 10:30 EST.

UMass In California ... This week's trip to the Bay Area marks the third time that UMass has played in California. The Minutemen are 1-2-1 in the Golden State. Here is a look at how UMass has fared in its four games in California.

1995  Stanford Classic  Palo Alto, Calif.

Sept. 29 vs. San Francisco W, 4-1

Oct. 1 at Stanford T, 2-2

1998  Fresno, Calif.

Sept. 18 at Fresno State L, 2-0

Sept. 20 vs. UNLV L, 1-2 (OT)

Scouting The Opposition ... This will be the first meeting between UMass and Santa Clara. The Minutemen have played USF once and won 4-1 on Sept. 29, 1995, at the Stanford Classic.

Santa Clara was 16-4-4 last year and advanced to the national semifinal game. The Broncos finished the year ranked fourth in the final poll and return 15 letterwinners from last season's West Coast Conference Championship team.

San Francisco is coming off a 9-10-1 campaign and finished fourth in the WCC. The Dons also return 15 letterwinners. They hosted California in an exhibition game Aug. 27 and lost 2-0.

Bay Area Connections ... UMass head coach Sam Koch is no stranger to the Bay Area. He was the head coach of Stanford from 1984-1989. Koch compiled a 58-53-16 record in six seasons at the helm of the Cardinal and was the 1987 Pacific Soccer Conference Coach of the Year.

Tucson Teammates ... UMass freshmen Chris Brown and Douglas Rappaport, natives of Tucson, Ariz., will see at least one familiar face this weekend. Neil Stuart, a redshirt freshman on San Francisco, is also from Tucson, Ariz. The trio attended Salpointe Catholic High School.

Notre Dame Recap ... UMass and No. 9 Notre Dame played to a 0-0 tie in the ninth annual Kick-Off Classic at Szot Park in Chicopee, Mass. Aug. 28. The Minutemen are now 2-4-3 in the game. All nine games have come against ranked foes, while eight have been against teams in the preseason top 10.

The game action was relatively even for the first half with each team taking three shots. Burns made one of the biggest saves of the night to keep the shutout in tact midway though the first half as he stopped Irish forward Tony Megna. Burns and Billman each finished with two saves for the Minutemen. UMass had its best scoring chance with 33 minutes left in regulation as Gabe Barnard back-kicked a ball from three yards out that was stopped by Notre Dame keeper Chris Sawyer. Throughout the night, the trio of Kitchell, Skelton and O'Donnell worked hard to deny the Irish scoring chances, as they finished with just nine shots. Defensive midfielder Craig Canavan, playing in his hometown of Chicopee was also strong.

A Look Back At 2003 ...

 UMass finished last season with an 11-7-1 record, its fifth straight 10-win season. It marks the longest successive 10-win streak in school history.

 Three Minutemen, all seniors, were named to All-Atlantic 10 teams. Ptah Myers was a first-team selection, while Dan Colwell and Devlin Barnes were second-team honorees.

 UMass recorded its best start in school history after 10 games at 7-2-1 and reached the program's highest national ranking ever, No. 13, on Oct. 6, 2003.

Stout At Rudd Field ...

 Since its opening at the start of the 2002 season, Rudd Field has become one of the top home-field advantages in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Minutemen have posted a 12-3-2 mark (.765 winning percentage), including a 7-1-1 mark in 2003. In that span, UMass has outscored its foes 49-17 in the 17 games at home, including 21-5 in 2003. UMass posted five shutouts at Rudd Field in 2003 and have seven in the two seasons at the complex.

 Colin Burns posted an incredible shutout streak at Rudd Field, spanning five games and 35 days. He posted a shutout streak of 354:59 from Sept. 14 against Navy to Oct. 19 against Fordham. He shut out Navy for the last 21:28, did not play against Boston University, shut out George Washington for the final 81:58 on Oct. 3, held Richmond scoreless for 110:00 on Oct. 5, shut out La Salle on Oct. 17 and then stopped Fordham for 50:33 on Oct. 19. In fact, during that time frame, Burns and fellow goalie Nick Billman allowed only one other goal (Boston University on Sept. 17).

A-10 Success ...

 Sam Koch has had most of his success come against Atlantic 10 opponents. During his 13 years at UMass, Koch has posted a 79-39-8 record (.659 winning percentage) against Atlantic 10 opposition, and has a winning record against every team but one, Rhode Island. Against out-of-conference foes, Koch is 64-45 10 (.580 winning percentage).

Young Guns ...

 The Minutemen have one of the youngest rosters in the country. Only two seniors, Gabe Barnard and Colin Burns, dot the roster. All told, there are 17 freshmen and sophomores on the squad.

Getting Defensive ...

 The Minutemen appear to be heading towards a defensive style of play, as evidenced by their six shutouts in eight games in the spring season.

 Since the start of the 2001 season, UMass has held 36 of its 61 opponents to one or fewer goals, posting a 30-3-3 mark in those games.

 It has allowed a team to score four or more goals only three times in that same timeframe, posting an 0-3-0 record.

Streaking ...

 Sam Koch's clubs have found a way to string together victories in his 13 years at UMass. His squads have won at least five games in a row in five of his 13 seasons, including three in a row, and at least four in a row in nine of the 13 seasons. The 7-2-1 record enjoyed at the start of last year was the best 10-game start in school history, equaling the 7-2-1 start the 1997 team accomplished.

The Captains ...

 Koch has named senior Colin Burns and juniors Craig Canavan and Oral Bullen as the captains this season.

 Burns is a fifth-year senior that has recovered fully from a serious head injury during his freshman year. He is coming off a solid season as the UMass goalkeeper last season and will be counted on again this season.

 Canavan is perhaps the most seasoned Minuteman. He spent five years in the United States Navy before joining the Minutemen last year. He is 28 years old and played for two seasons at New Hampshire before heading to the Navy.

 Oral Bullen figures to be UMass' top offensive threat. He is the leading returning scorer with 20 points (8 g, 4 a)and scored two goals in UMass'3-1 exhibition victory over Montreal last Saturday.

In the Polls ...

 Prior to Sam Koch's arrival in Amherst in 1991, the Minutemen had spent a grand total of zero weeks in any national poll. UMass has been ranked in the nation's top 25 each of the last three years, including a program-high No. 13 on Oct. 6, 2003. UMass finished the 2001 season ranked No. 24 in the NSCAA/ adidas national poll, and reached as high as No. 22 in the Collegesoccernews.com poll in 2002.

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University of Massachusets Athletics

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