Men's Soccer Heads To Saint Louis For Atlantic 10 Quarterfinal

University of Massachusetts Men's Soccer Game Notes & Information
Games 18	Massachusetts (7-5-5 Overall, 4-3-1 Atlantic 10) vs. Saint Louis (8-4-4 Overall, 4-1- Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Friday, Nov. 3 / 8 p.m.
Location	Saint Louis, Mo. (Hermann Stadium)
Rosters	UMass \| Saint Louis
Live Statistics	SideArm Live Stats
Watch	ESPN+
Twitter	@UMassM Soccer
Instagram	U Mass Men's Soccer
Facebook	UMass M en's Soccer

AMHERST, Mass - The University of Massachusetts men's soccer team will travel to Saint Louis to take on the Billikens for the first round of the Atlantic 10 playoffs. Kick off is set for 8 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.

Regular Season Rewind
The Minutemen finished their regular season last Saturday with a 3-1 loss at Dayton and finished with a record of 7-5-5 overall and 4-3-1 in conference. To start the 2023 campaign, UMass played to a 2-2 draw at Rudd Field and would go on to finish with a 4-1-4 record and maintained a +8 goal differential at home after defeating Davidson 3-1 on Senior Day. While on the road, UMass was 3-4-1 with wins over Providence, St. Bonaventure, and Saint Joseph's and a -1 goal differential.

During the regular season, Alec Hughes led the Atlantic 10 in goals with 14 and was in a five way tie for the national lead. Nick Zielonka on the other hand, was tied for the conference lead in assists with nine. As a team, the Minutemen ranked third in the conference in total goals (28), scoring offense, shots on goal per game (5.82), and saves per game (3.59).

Talking Playoffs
This year's trip to the Atlantic 10 tournament will be the Minutemen's 18th time competing for the conference crown since the playoffs began in 1987. UMass first made the Atlantic 10 playoffs was in 1991 after going 11-4-4. UMass would end up losing to Rutgers 1-0 in the then four team bracket. They earned their first playoff win came they following year where they got revenge over Rutgers, 2-1.

UMass has a current A-10 playoff record of 10-13-3 and has made it to the championship game seven times. The Minutemen have been crowned champions three times, winning in 2002, 2007 and most recently 2017. Friday's game will mark the third time this senior class will make a post season appearance. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, the season was pushed to the following spring and was shortened. At the end of the year, UMass received a bid to the national tournament after tying for the fourth spot in the A-10 bracket. Last year, UMass faced Saint Louis in the A-10 quarterfinals where they would drop a tightly contested match 1-0.

Series vs. Saint Louis
Friday's game will be a rematch of last year's quarterfinal game as the Billikens outlasted the Minutemen 1-0 in 2022. Saint Louis is a familiar foe for they Minutemen in the playoffs as UMass has faced the Billikens four times in their last seven trips to the Atlantic 10 playoffs, going 2-2 in those games. Overall, UMass has a 6-8-2 record against the Billikens since they first played each other in 2005.

Moving Up In The Record Books
After scoring against Dayton on Saturday, Alec Hughes sits in fifth place all-time in career goals at UMass with 34. His 14 tallies this year is also eighth in single season goals at UMass.

Nick Zielonka has also etched his name in the record books this season. Zielonka's nine assists puts him in a tie for fifth in single season assists at UMass. He is tied with Jonathan Bibb (1999) and Justin Edelman (1992) while also leading the conference.

Scoreboard