Xavier's Second Half Surge Falls Short Verses UMass

Oct. 8, 2010

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - The Xavier men's soccer team dominated the second half, but an early deficit could not be erased as it fell to Massachusetts 2-0 Friday afternoon in the first Atlantic 10 conference game of the year. The loss snapped Xavier's five-game unbeaten streak.

The loss snapped the Musketeers five-game unbeaten streak, which drop to 3-3-3 on the season 0-1-0 in the A-10. The win gives the Minutemen an overall record of 2-3-5, and 1-0-0 mark in the A-10. The Minutemen's goals were scored by Stuart Amick in the 18th minute and Morgan Brandso in the 28th minute.

"This is a disappointing result for us. We had a bad first half, the worst of half of the year," head coach Andy Fleming said. "Despite the spirited and sound second half, we had dug too big of a hole. We learned that you must come to play and you don't get second chances if you start poorly."

Xavier absolutely dominated the second half offensively, recording 14 shots and eight corner kicks to UMass's one and zero, respectfully. The Musketeers had several scoring chances in the second half with five shots on goal, but were unable to capitalize and cut into the first-half lead the Minutemen built.

"We need to regroup and carry today's second half into our game against Rhode Island," Fleming said. "There is still a long road ahead of us and we've been pretty good about being resilient and responding to subpar performances. I'm confident that we can do that Sunday."

UMass took the lead when Chris Roswess ran to the end line before feeding the ball back across the box to Stuart Amick, who one timed the ball as he raced in towards goal. Brandso scored on a header on the Minutemen's second goal, after Bryant Craft's lofted assist to the far post.

The goal was controversial however as it was ruled over the line after hitting inside the far post and bouncing to goalkeeper Justin Marshall who then cleared it. It appeared that Brandso may have been offsides as well on the score.

"There's a reason that UMass has been to a Final Four and won an A-10 regular season championship in the past four years," Fleming said. "They were hungrier and played liked they had something to prove."

The flurry of shots in the second half helped the Musketeers win the shots battle, 16-8, and corner kicks, 8-1.

Andy Dimbi had three shots, two on goal for the Musketeers, and El-Hadji Dieng also had three shots, including one on goal. Amick's three shots and goal led the Minutemen.

Marshall took the loss and is now 3-2-3 on the season, while the Minutemen goalkeeper, Chris Piekos, 1-2-5. Marshall made two saves, while Piekos' six saves, including five in the second half, helped capture the win for UMass.

The Musketeers will stay in the region to face Rhode Island beginning at noon Sunday.

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