UMass Set to Take on #6 Penn in NCAA Tournament Second Round

University of Massachusetts Men's Soccer Notes & Information
Matchup	Massachusetts at #6 Penn (NCAA Tournament Second Round)
Date \| Time	Sunday, Nov. 24 \| 5:00 p.m. ET
Location	Rhodes Field \| Philadelphia, Pa.
Twitter	@UMassMSoccer
Instagram	UMass Men's Soccer
Facebook	UMass Men's Soccer

AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts (11-3-5, 5-2-1 A10) is set for an NCAA second round matchup with #6 Penn (14-3-1, 7-0 IVY) Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia, Pa. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. with action streaming live on ESPN+. The winning team will advance to the Sweet 16 and face the winner of #11 Virginia/West Virginia.

Last Time Out
The Minutemen claimed its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2007 on Thursday in a 2-1 victory over Evansville in the first round at Rudd Field. Alec Hughes struck first for the Minutemen, firing a free kick from just outside the box into the top-right shelf. The Glastonbury, Conn. native tallied a team-high seven shots: six of which on goal. The performance marked Hughes' 50th career goal in five seasons with UMass and his 15th of the season. Andrew Ortiz netted the eventual game-winner, finishing his fifth score of the 2024 campaign off a centering pass from Oliver Akintade in the 60th minute to give the Minutemen a 2-0 lead. UMass enters its third NCAA Tournament second round appearance in program history.

Hughes Makes History
Alec Hughes broke the record for All-Time goals scored in program history, passing Jeff Deren's ('03) record of 48, scoring a brace on the road against St. Bonaventure. Hughes has netted 15 goals on the season and tallied one assist, good for 31 total points on the 2024 campaign. He currently trails recent Massachusetts Athletics Hall of Famer inductee Jeff Deren on total points in program history (113), with Hughes having 108 points.

Deren ('99-'03) was announced as an inductee into the Hall of Fame this past August, helping the Minutemen to Atlantic 10 regular season championships in 2000 and 2002 while also leading UMass to the 2001 Atlantic 10 Tournament championship and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Deren was twice named an All-American (2001, 2002), Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year (2001, 2002) and an All-New England honoree (2001, 2002).

A Look at the Squad
UMass returns 16 players from last year's roster including Hughes and fellow graduate student Mike Willis.

Additionally, the Minutemen welcome eight newcomers featuring Dean Linden (Fr.), Sean Fernandez-Davila (Fr.), Joseph Bianco (Jr.), Johan Feilscher (Gr.), Kyle Stenzel (Gr.), Chris Giglio (Gr.), Layton Purchase (Gr.), and Oliver Akintade (Gr.).

Scouting Penn
UMass meets Penn for the first time in program history. The Quakers come off a skid against Princeton last Sunday, falling 3-1 in the 2024 Ivy League Men's Soccer Final.

Penn went a perfect 7-0-0 in Ivy League action, the 14th perfect conference record in Ivy history, the fifth this century, the first since 2021, and the first for the Quakers since 1971. The Quakers earned a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament, claiming the No. 6 seed after posting a 14-3-1 record.

Scoreboard

UMass Set to Take on #6 Penn in NCAA Tournament Second Round

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Players Mentioned

Oliver Akintade

Joseph Bianco

Johan Feilscher

Sean Fernandez-Davila

Chris Giglio

Alec Hughes

Dean Linden

Andrew Ortiz

Layton Purchase

Kyle Stenzel

Mike Willis

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics