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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
VCU
Men's Soccer Set For Semifinal Match Against Top Seeded VCU
November 06, 2023 | Men's Soccer
The No.7 Minutemen and No.1 Rams will kick off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+
| University of Massachusetts Men's Soccer Game Notes & Information | |
| Games 19 | Massachusetts (7-5-6 Overall, 4-3-1 Atlantic 10) vs. VCU (6-5-5 Overall, 5-1-2 Atlantic 10) |
| Date | Time | Wednesday, Nov. 8 / 7 p.m. |
| Location | Richmond, Va. (Sports Backers Stadium) |
| Rosters | UMass | VCU |
| Live Statistics | SideArm Live Stats |
| Watch | ESPN+ |
| @UMassMSoccer | |
| UMass Men's Soccer | |
| UMass Men's Soccer | |
AMHERST, Mass - The University of Massachusetts men's soccer team will head to Richmond for a semifinal matchup with the top seeded VCU Rams on Wednesday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+
Regular Season Rewind
The Minutemen ended 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 while maintaining 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 is the Minutemen's 18th time competing for the conference crown since the playoffs began in 1987. UMass first made the playoffs in 1991 after going 11-4-4. They would end up losing to Rutgers 1-0 in the then four team bracket. The following year, they earned their first playoff win, getting revenge over Rutgers, 2-1.
After Friday's win over Saint Louis, UMass has a current A-10 playoff record of 10-13-4 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 marked the third time this senior class has made the postseason. 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. VCU
The Minutemen will look for revenge on Wednesday in their 11th meeting with the Rams, who ended the 15 game home unbeaten streak at Rudd Field earlier this season. VCU also holds the series advantage with a record of 4-2-4 all-time. UMass and VCU are no strangers to each other in the playoffs as the two teams met three years in a row from 2016 to 2018. VCU won two of the meetings but UMass bested the Rams 3-1 in the 2017 title game. Since the 2017 championship game, matchups between the two have been defensive battles, averaging 1.000 total goals per game.
Moving Up In The Record Books
After scoring against Saint Louis on Friday, Alec Hughes sits in fifth place all-time in career goals at UMass with 35. His 15 tallies this year is also tied with Randy Jacobs (1993), Clarence Thompson (1954), and Alfred Hoelzel (1951) for fifth 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.
