2005 Men's Soccer Season Review

Feb. 17, 2006

2005 Postseason Review
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UMASS SOCCER SEASON REVIEW
Massachusetts (8-10-2, 4-3-2 Atlantic 10)

ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
 Kenny Cook, A-10 All-Tournament / All-Conference Second-Team
 Oral Bullen, A-10 All-Conference Second-Team
 Zack Simmons, A-10 All-Rookie Team
 Doug Rappaport, A-10 All-Academic Team

Minutemen Conclude Season With Atlantic 10 Tournament Berth
 For the first time in three seasons, the UMass men's soccer team returned to the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament as the No. 6 seed. The Minutemen fell to No. 3 seed Rhode Island, the eventual tournament champion, in the opening round game in St. Louis, Mo.
 Despite falling in the opening round, the berth gave UMass a positive finish to the season as the Minutemen concluded the regular season going 4-0-2 making their play-off push.
 Rudd Field proved a true home advantage for UMass this season as the Minutemen posted a 5-2-2 record on the home pitch.
 Four Minutemen earned postseason accolades: Oral Bullen, Kenny Cook, Doug Rappaport, and Zack Simmons. Cook and Bullen earned All-Conference Second-Team honors, while Simmons was named to the All-Rookie Team and Rappaport was named to the All-Academic Team. Cook was additionally honored as a member of the All-Tournament team.
 Matty Lemire led the team with 12 points on five goals and two assists followed by Cook, a defender, who tallied 11 points on five goals and one assist.
 One of the biggest stories to come from the 2005 season was the emergence of redshirt freshman goalie Zack Simmons who walked on to the team the previous spring. Simmons played for the club team at UMass before joining the varsity squad. He started 18 games on the season making 94 saves while allowing 1.43 goals per game.
 Oral Bullen finished his career with 54 career points on 21 goals and 12 assists, just seven points shy of becoming one of the all-time top 10 scorers in UMass history. In his career, he was a part of two Atlantic 10 Tournament teams at UMass.

UMass In the A-10 Tournament
 The Minutemen are 4-7-2 all-time in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. UMass' last trip, prior to this season, was a 4-3 overtime loss to George Washington in 2002.
 Two UMass games in the tournament have gone to penalty kicks. The Minutemen advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2001 when they played to a draw against Richmond. UMass advanced on PK's with a 4-3 advantage. The other game was UMass' first trip to the A-10 finals in 1992, head coach Sam Koch's second season at UMass, where the Maroon & White tied West Virginia only to have the Mountaineers take a 4-3 advantage on PK's to take the title.
 UMass has advanced past the first round in four of their eight trips to the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Late Season Surge
 At the start of the Atlantic 10 season, UMass sat at 0-3 in league play and were ranked 12th in the conference. Since that point, the Minutemen played strong going 4-0-2 to gain the sixth seed in the A-10. Over the last five regular season games in particular, the Minutemen played their best soccer of the season.
 UMass allowed just 0.74 goals against and outscored opponents by an 8-to-4 advantage in that stretch.
 The Minutemen pitched three shutouts in those games, including 1-0 wins at Fordham and at St. Bonaventure.
 When asked if he had changed his practice strategy to get the team ready for the A-10 Tournament, head coach Sam Koch stated, "We've been playing in a tournament already for the last three games. Those games were win-or-go-home games. Our season was on the line and if we didn't get the results we needed, we knew we weren't going to make a postseason appearance."

Bullen, Billittier Close Out Careers With Second Postseason Trip
 Seniors Oral Bullen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Ernie Billittier (Mundelein, Ill.) are the only members on the UMass squad who have played in an Atlantic 10 Tournament match. The duo helped the Minutemen qualify for the tournament in 2002. Each played as reserves in that game.

Simmons Ranked Nationally
 Redshirt freshman Zack Simmons (Durham, N.H.) finished the season ranked 18th nationally in saves this season with 94.
 Not only is Simmons a walk-on to the team who took over the starting goalie spot during the preseason when incumbent goalkeeper Nick Billman (St. Louis, Mo.) went down with a shoulder injury, he is a 4.0 student-athlete majoring in history.

Koch Leads UMass To Ninth Postseason Appearance
 This was the ninth postseason appearance in 15 seasons for UMass since head coach Sam Koch took over in 1991.
 The Minutemen qualified for the tournament in four of Koch's first five seasons at UMass.
 UMass appeared in four consecutive A-10 Tournaments from 1999-02. The Minutemen won the league title in 2001 to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Simmons Earns A-10 Rookie of the Week Honors
 Goalkeeper Zack Simmons (Durham, N.H.) was named the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Rookie of the Week following his play against Fordham and St. Bonaventure in the final regular season weekend.
 Additionally, Simmons was named the UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athlete of the Week with quarterback Liam Coen.
 Both the A-10 and UMass honors are the first for Simmons who posted two shutouts in goal for the Minutemen leading them to the sixth seed in the upcoming league tournament.
 Simmons made 12 saves on the weekend, including seven at Fordham. At St. Bona he made five saves despite pouring rain and two lightening delays. That pushed his save total to 91 for the season which ties him for 14th nationally with Michael Pereira of UNC Asheville according to Monday's NCAA Statistics release.
 His play in goal was critical as UMass had to win both games in order to gain tournament qualification for the six-team field. Just three weeks ago, the Minutemen ranked 12th in the conference but rallied to go undefeated in six games posting four wins and two ties to overcome an 0-3 start in league play.
 Simmons has been an anchor in goal for a UMass defense that is allowing 0.51 goals per game fewer (11 goals total) than the 2004 squad. That defensive pressure has produced five shutouts, four credited to Simmons, for the squad this season which is the second-best over the last five seasons.

Leading The Minutemen
 Sophomore Matty Lemire (Ipswich, Mass.) led the team in scoring with five goals and 12 points this season. The totals are both career highs for LeMire.
 Sophomore defender Kenny Cook (Fairport, N.Y.) ranked second on the team with a career-high five goals and one assist for nine points.
 Senior co-captain Oral Bullen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had three goals and three assists (9 points) despite missing three games this season. He was just seven points shy of cracking into the all-time top-10 scoring list for UMass.
 Freshman Prince Ofosu (Worcester, Mass.) led the team with six assists. That mark was good for 10th overall in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
 UMass keeper Zack Simmons (Durham, N.H.) started 18 games making 94 saves while allowing 1.43 goals per game and posting four shutouts.

Can't Make The Game? You're Closer Than You Think!
 This season every game, home and away, featured live stats through UMassAthletics.com. Additionally, several games feature live audio broadcasts through the web site as well. In 2006, fans will be treated to VideoCasts of selected home games.

No Place Like Home
 The Rudd Field Advantage was strong for the Minutemen in 2005 and overall since the facility's opening in 2002. Over the past three seasons, UMass has posted a 22-10-3 (.700) overall record at home outscoring opponents 91-to-46.
 The shut out against La Salle this season was the 10th shutout posted at Rudd Field - the second of the 2005 season as UMass shutout Navy 2-0 earlier this season. The previous time UMass held an opponent scoreless at the complex was Oct. 29, 2004 in a 4-0 win against A-10 rival St. Bonaventure.

New Faces Earn Starting Roles
 Eight different newcomers found their way into the starting rotation this season.
 Entering the season UMass looked to be returning a veteran back row, but preseason injuries took their toll forcing three first year players to start in front of a rookie goalkeeper.
 Freshmen Nick Kelly (Middleboro, Mass.) and Prince Ofosu (Worcester, Mass.) were each top reserves for the Minutemen. Kelly, a former Massachusetts High School Wrestling Champion, was one of the first off the bench on the defensive side, while Ofosu's speed and offensive skill made him a top reserve up top.
 Perhaps no newcomer made as big a difference as Simmons who earned the team's "Man of the Match" award for the first two games after his performance in goal.
 Fellow rookie Michael Connolly (Amherst, Mass.) was credited with the team's "Man of the Match" for his second half defensive efforts in UMass' comeback attempt at Maine.

First Time's The Charm
 Several Minutemen recorded historic `firsts' of their careers.
 Zack Simmons posted his first career shutout against Navy (9/18).
 Tony Bassett, Mike DeSantis, and Kenny Cook each tallied their first career goals this season.
 Douglas Rappaport, Nick Kelly and Prince Ofosu all posted their first career assists this year.
 Bassett, Chris Brown, Michael Connolly, Cook, DeSantis, Ofosu, Simmons, and Stewart Wagner have all started games for the first time in their careers this season.

LeMire Named UMass/Dinn Bros. Athlete of the Week (9/19/05)
 Sophomore Matty Lemire (Ipswich, Mass.) was named the UMass/Dinn Bros. Athlete of the Week after leading the Minutemen to victories over Cornell and Navy. LeMire tallied a goal in each win to help UMass improve to 3-3-0 overall.
 The Minutemen defeated Cornell 2-1 in overtime keyed by LeMire's game-tying goal in the second-half. His other goal was the second for UMass in a 2-0 shutout win over a Navy team which had recorded three shutouts and whose goalkeeper, Aric McElheny, had allowed just 0.40 goals per game.

Bullen Earns UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athlete of the Week Honors
 For his play at the Michigan State Fall Classic, Bullen was selected as a UMass/Dinn Bros. Co-Athlete of the Week. He shared the honor with football defensive back Brandon Smith.
 Bullen tallied five points on two goals and one assist at the Fall Classic. He notched the game-winning goal and was credited with an assist on UMass' opening goal of the game.

Bullen Named A-10 Preseason All-Conference
 Bullen was named to the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team as selected by the league's head coaches.
 Bullen is the top offensive player returning to head coach Sam Koch's squad for the 2005 campaign. Bullen is one of 10 players in the conference named to the preseason squad after garnering all-conference honors at the conclusion of last season.
 The 2004 All-Atlantic 10 Second Team honoree led UMass in goals (9), assists (5) and points (23) en route to earning his first postseason honor. He scored five goals on 15 shots and recorded three assists in A-10 play. For the 2004 season, he ranked third in the league in points, was tied for second in goals and was 10th in assists.

Atlantic 10 Excellence
 Sam Koch has had most of his success come against Atlantic 10 opponents. During his 14 years at UMass, Koch has posted a 84-44-12 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 70-56-10 (.551 winning percentage).

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University of Massachusets Athletics

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