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UMass Boston

John Santos
Katie Wilbert
2
Western Conn. St. WCS (13-5-0, 5-2-0)
4
Winner UMass Boston UMB (12-2-1, 5-1-1)
Western Conn. St. WCS
(13-5-0, 5-2-0)
2
Final
4
UMass Boston UMB
(12-2-1, 5-1-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Western Conn. St. WCS 2 0 2
UMass Boston UMB 1 3 4

Game Recap: Men's Soccer | | Dave Walberg, SID

Men’s Soccer Rallies Past WestConn For Huge Conference Win

John Santos scored the game-winning goal in the final minutes of regulation





BOSTON, Mass. – John Santos (Brockton, Mass.) and Nilton De Andrade (Fogo, Cape Verde) each scored a goal in the final five minutes of regulation to lift men's soccer to a crucial 4-2 Little East Conference win over WestConn Saturday afternoon at James Cotter Field.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 4, WestConn 2

UMass Boston (12-2-1, 5-1-1 Little East Conference)
WestConn (13-5-0, 5-2-0 Little East Conference)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Santos' game-winning goal came in the 87th minute off of a corner kick from De Andrade. The six-foot-one-inch midfielder managed to get over the entire WestConn defense to tap home the crucial score. De Andrade sealed the victory for the Beacons in the final chaotic moments of Saturday's contest. With WestConn looking for the equalizer their entire team, including goalkeeper Daniel Szabo were in the offensive third.

With about 12 seconds remaining, WestConn received what would have been their final throw in of the night. Unfortunately for WestConn, the ball slipped out of the players' hands and landed on the foot of the Beacons midfield. De Andrade managed to get past the remaining WestConn players and brought the ball up the length of the field.

The senior buried the breakaway goal with 3.5 seconds left on the clock to clinch perhaps their biggest conference win of the campaign.

With the win, the Beacons now sit a-top the conference standings, with only one conference game left in the regular season.

WestConn actually struck first in Saturday's match-up with Kent Eannarino scoring a brilliant one-timer from outside the box in the 21st minute. Emelson Barbosa (Fogo, Cape Verde) evened the score at 1-1 when he knocked home his third of the season in the 39th minute.

Lorenzo Lauria gave WestConn a 2-1 advantage heading into the break.

WestConn maintained their slim lead throughout most of the second half, until De Andrade scored the equalizer in the 82nd minute off of a Vangjel Gjergo (Korce, Albania) pass. From there the Beacons would ride that momentum scoring the crucial goal five minutes later.

Szabo made five saves in Saturday's loss, while Qasim El-Ashkar (Salem, Mass.) earned his third conference win of the season after he made four saves. El-Ashkar, who was not in the starting line-up, had to take over for freshman starter JJ Devine (Halifax, Mass.) who had to leave the match after colliding with a WestConn forward in the opening minutes.

BY THE NUMBERS
  • UMass Boston held a 14-11 advantage in shots, 9-6 in shots on goal
  • The Beacons also had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks
  • All-time the Beacons are now 11-16-5 against WestConn
  • Since 2010, UMass Boston is now 8-1-3 against WestConn
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will host WPI on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. in their final non-conference regular season match.
 
 
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