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• UMass steps out of league play to face UNC Asheville on Thursday eveing at Greenwood Field in the Blue Ridge Mountain city of Asheville, N.C. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. and the game will be video streamed online for free by the Big South Network.
ABOUT UMASS
• UMass is 2-11-1 following a weekend split last week, falling at Rhode Island on Friday before securing its first road victory of the year at Fordham on Sunday.
• UMass is averaging 10.3 shots per game and putting nearly half of those attempts on goal (46%). Senior Josh Schwartz leads with team with 8 points on a team-high 3 goals and two assists. He also has the onyl game-winner of the year. Sophomore Luke Pavone is a strong midfield threat who has a goal and a team-best 3 assists.
ABOUT UNC ASHEVILLE
• Asheville enters the game with a 1-8-3 record and is winless in its last 10 games.
• The Bulldogs are averaging just under 8 shots per game and have scored eight goals, while yeilding 26 on 19.9 shots. Like some of the classic Sam Koch-coached teams at UMass, UNCA has a big emphasis on defense.
• Dan Jackson has played all but 45 minutes this season, allowing 26 goals for a 2.14 goals against average.
SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in men's soccer.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FINAL TWO ATLANTIC 10 GAMES
• On Sunday, UMass will play at Davidson in its final A-10 road game of the season. The Wildcats are 7-2-4 overall but just 1-2-1 in their first year as a league member. DC has been a top-15 RPI team for much of the season, based on a strong non-conference resume that includes a 6-0-3 mark, including road wins over then-#2 Virginia and Duke.
• Next weekend, UMass will play host to St. Bonaventure at Rudd Field with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
• UMass is currently in a 4-way tie for ninth place at 4 points. The top eight teams will qualify for the postseason tourney, held Nov. 13-16 at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Va.
2014 MARKS THE FIRST SEASON WITHOUT LONGTIME COACH Sam Koch
• After a two-year battle with sinus cancer, longtime head coach Sam Koch passed away on July 20 at his home in Hadley, Mass. Koch, 59, compiled a 222-182-45 record in 23 seasons at UMass, advancing to the NCAA postseason three times (2001, 2007 and 2008), including the 2007 NCAA College Cup Semifinals. He also coached six seasons at Stanford University from 1984-89 and went 58-53-16. His 280 career victories entering the fall placed him 21st among active Division I head coaches and 50th all-time in Division I history.
• In addition to the NCAA tourney success, the Minutemen won four regular-season Atlantic 10 titles, two Atlantic 10 Tournament titles. During his tenure in Amherst, the 29-year head coaching veteran produced two All-Americans in Jeff Deren (2001-02) and Zack Simmons (2007), three Academic All-Americans, one Academic All-American of the Year, a two-time Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year, an Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, an Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year, two Atlantic 10 Rookies of the year, two Atlantic 10 Tournament MVPs, 27 All-Region selections, 62 All-Atlantic 10 players, 29 Academic All-Atlantic 10 honorees, two players to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Teams, a two-time Atlantic 10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and 23 Atlantic 10 All-Tournament picks.
• Koch recorded 13 winning seasons with five-straight from 1999-2003, the most since UMass had six straight from 1969-74. Koch's teams notched 13 10-win seasons in Amherst, while the program had only managed that feat three times in the school's history prior to his arrival.
Devin O'Neill NAMED INTERIM HEAD COACH
• Veteran coach and current staff member Devin O'Neill has been named the Interim Head Coach of the Massachusetts men's soccer program.
• O'Neill, who was the Minutemen's top assistant under Sam Koch the past two years, has a 92-90 college head coaching record over 11 seasons. The 2014 campaign will be his 21st at the college level.
• The West Springfield, Mass. native had previous head coaching stops at East Carolina (1999-2002) and Gettysburg College (2003-09). He came to UMass following a two-year stint at Bradley in which the Braves participated in the NCAA Tournament each season.
• O'Neill graduated from Middlebury in 1991 and received his master's degree from Springfield College in 1993.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN SCHWARTZ ACTIVE SCORING LEADER ON TEAM
• Senior MF Josh Schwartz enters the season with 13 goals and six assists for 32 points in his career. He also has three game-winning goals. All of those figures are currently tops among the active players on the roster.
• Schwartz was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team and Jewish Sports Review First Team All-America last season. He carries a 3.957 GPA in Biology/Pre Med and was named the UMass Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
UMASS PICKED 11TH IN A-10 PRESEASON POLL
• UMass was picked to finish 11th out of 13 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference preseason coaches poll. Defending regular-season champ Saint Louis was picked first, followed by last year's tournament winner George Mason. Last season, the Minutemen were picked seventh before finishing in a tie for seventh.
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