#3 Minutemen Set for Quarterfinal Clash vs. #6 Billikens

University of Massachusetts Men's Soccer Notes & Information
Matchup	#3 Massachusetts vs. #6 St. Louis
Date \| Time	Saturday, Nov. 9 \| 1:00 p.m. ET
Location	Rudd Field \| Amherst, Mass.
Twitter	@UMassMSoccer
Instagram	UMass Men's Soccer
Facebook	UMass Men's Soccer

AMHERST, Mass. – No. 3-seeded Massachusetts (10-3-4, 5-2-1 A10) is set for a matchup with No. 6-seeded Saint Louis (6-7-3, 2-3-2 A10) Saturday afternoon in Amherst, Mass. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. with action streaming live on ESPN+.

Last Time Out
The Minutemen are coming off a 5:1 victory over Saint Bonaventure Saturday afternoon. Alec Hughes scored his 48th and 49th career goals as the Minutemen claim their first 10+ win season since 2017.

Eyes on the Minutemen
UMass was ranked 20^th nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and 18^th in the NCAA Men's Soccer RPI. This is the first time this season the Minutemen have cracked the Top-25 rankings nationally. Earlier in the season, UMass ranked as high as 9th in the Men's Soccer RPI.

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 is tied for third in the NCAA top goal scorer chart with 14 goals on the season and ranks 7^th in the country with 29 points. He currently trails recent Massachusetts Athletics Hall of Famer inductee Jeff Deren on total points in program history (113), with Hughes having 106 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).

Playoff Picture
UMass sits 3rd in the Atlantic 10 standings, with George Mason in the conference lead. A win on Saturday would send the Minutemen to the Atlantic 10 Tournament semi-finals, matchups will be reseeded after the quarterfinals, with the top two remaining seeds serving as the hosting sites.

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 nine newcomers featuring Dean Linden (Fr.), Sean Fernandez-Davila (Fr.), Joseph Bianco (Jr.), Johan Feilscher (Gr.), Kyle Stenzel (Gr.), Bilal Hersi (Gr.), Chris Giglio (Gr.), Layton Purchase (Gr.), and Oliver Akintade (Gr.).

Scouting Saint Louis
UMass meets with Saint Louis after a 2023 matchup that saw the Minutemen tie in regulation 2:2 to the Billikens, with UMass prevailing 4-3 in penalty kicks. UMass has an 6-7-3 total record against the Billikens.

Saint Louis posted an 8-4-5 record last season, going 4-1-3 in A10 play. The Billikens come into the match after a 4:1 loss against Dayton on Saturday. The Billikens have won three of their last seven matches.

Scoreboard

Players Mentioned

Oliver Akintade

Joseph Bianco

Johan Feilscher

Sean Fernandez-Davila

Chris Giglio

Alec Hughes

Dean Linden

Layton Purchase

Kyle Stenzel

Mike Willis

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics