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• Following a five-game road swing to open the season, the UMass men's soccer team will play host to Fairfield on Friday in the 2014 home opener. This marks the second-latest home opener in program history.
2014 SEASON MARKS NO. 81 IN PROGRAM HISTORY
• UMass enters the game with the Stags sporting an all-time record of 497-487-109 (.507) in 80-plus years of varsity soccer. The Minutemen have won six Atlantic 10 Conference titles and made three NCAA Tournament appearances (2001, 2007 & 2008). The high-water mark in program history came in 2007 when the squad advanced to the NCAA College Cup Semifinals in Cary, N.C.
ABOUT UMASS
• UMass is 0-5 but has shown steady improvement in each game thus far. Aside from closing the margin of defeat in three contests prior to the BU game on Saturday, the quality of opponent improved each time out, forcing the Minutemen to up their game. The defense played better and better as the 5-game trip evolved.
• The Minutemen are posting 10.2 shots per game, while allowing just over 15 to their opponents. Mark Morris and Josh Schwartz have scored the two goals for UMass thus far.
• Senior captain Matt Keys is one of six players to start every game and leads the team with 330 minutes played (out of 360 possible).
GETTING THEIR MONEY'S WORTH
• Despite just scoring two goals and having taken 48 shots through five games, the Minutemen have not wasted their opportunities. 24 of their 48 shots have been on goal, resulting in a 50 pct. rate of shots on goal.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST FAIRFIELD
• UMass leads the all-time series 8-2-2 and lost to Fairfield in their last meeting in 2013. The Stags claimed a 2-0 win in Amherst last season.
ABOUT FAIRFIELD
• Fairfield enters the game with a 2-1-1 record. The Stags are coming off a weekend in which they defeated Yale, 1-0, at home.
• The Stags were picked to finish fourth in the MAAC preseason poll, with Jordan Ayris selected as a preseason all-conference forward.
UMASS ROSTER BREAKDOWN
• The Minutemen roster features 13 returnees and 12 newcomers this season. The starting lineup in the season-opener at Utah Valley featured 10 returnees in the field and a redshirt freshman in goal. All eight substitutes used were newcomers to the program.
• Only one field player was on the field for longer than 71 minutes. MF Luke Pavone played all 90, along with GK Taylor Culp. Interim head coach Devin O'Neill has mentioned prior the season that this four-game, 10-day trip was going to be a test of the players' stamina and ability to play at a high level against four tough programs.
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.
4-GAME, 10-DAY ROAD TRIP TO START 2014
• UMass may be the most well-traveled team in the country this season, due in large part to it's season-opening road trip. The Minutemen will play four games in 10 days, beginning Saturday at Utah Velley. From there, the team will spend four days in the San Francisco Bay Area for games with San Jose State and Santa Clara, before heading three hours south to San Luis Obispo to face Cal Poly on Sept. 7.
• The road games will continue once they return to the east coast with a road trip to Boston University on Sept. 13. The Minutemen will not play their home opener until hosting Fairfield on Sept. 19
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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