BOSTON, Mass.—Senior
Nilton de Andrade (Fogo, Cape Verde) scored a pair of goals and UMass Boston men's soccer put together a tremendous defensive performance to hand Rhode Island College their first conference defeat of the season.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 2, Rhode Island College 0
(UMass Boston 9-2, Little East 3-1)
(Rhode Island College 7-4, Little East 4-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
De Andrade scored a goal in the opening and final 15 minutes of the game, to help the Beacons earn their sixth-straight victory.
Seniors
Cam Pattison (Cohasset, Mass.) and
Cristian Suvak (Winchester, Mass.) each picked up their first collegiate assists on the opening goal.
In net, freshman
JJ Devine (Halifax, Mass.) made two saves to earn his second conference shutout in three Little East starts.
Rhode Island College senior goalie Charlie Tashjian made four saves on six shots to fall to 7-4 on the season.
The Beacons came out firing against the Anchormen and nearly took the lead in the 10
th minute. Pattison got in behind the defense and with the goalie racing off his line, he centered the ball for de Andrade, but the Beacons leading scorer was whistled offside.
The duo combined for the Beacons opening goal just over five minutes later. Suvak sent a perfect through ball for Pattison in behind the defense and Pattison's cross found de Andrade for an easy finish at 14:10.
Rhode Island College had their best chance to tie the game in the 21
st minute. After a Beacons foul just outside the box, Brandon Ramos curled a free kick from 25-yards out that went just wide of the far post.
The visitors came out pressing the Beacons in the second half and immediately earned a pair of corner kicks and a Jonathan Oliviera shot in the opening five minutes of the half.
UMass Boston began to swing the tides 10 minutes later, when they created a pair of great scoring chances.
De Andrade found
Vangjel Gjergo (Korçë, Albania) one-one-one with the keeper but Tashjian made a diving save to put the ball out for a corner kick. Five minutes later,
Riven Rodrigues (Brockton, Mass.) ran in all alone with the keeper, but his bending right-footed shot was saved by Tashjian.
The Beacons put the game away in the 78
th minute. Senior
Gerardo Castaneda (Providence, R.I.) was grabbed and spun around in the box and after a brief pause, the referee blew his whistle for a penalty kick. De Andrade stepped up to the spot and sent the keeper the wrong way for a 2-0 advantage at 77:31.
Rhode Island College managed three shots in the final 11 minutes, but Devine was easily able to stop Ryan Moniz's effort-which was the lone shot on goal.
The Beacons back three of
Emelson Barbosa (Fogo, Cape Verde),
Estevao Gomes (Fogo, Cape Verde) and
Leo Herrera (San Pedro Sula, Honduras), along with defensive midfielders
John Santos (Brockton, Mass.) and Suvak worked extremely well together all game to prevent Rhode Island College any good looks at goal.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston held an 8-6 advantage on shots and a 6-2 lead in shots on goal. The two teams finished tied 5-5 on corner kicks.
- De Andrade tied the program record with his sixth game-winning goal in a single-season. He also ranks tied for eighth in a single-season in goals (13) and points (33) and tied for 13th in assists (seven).
- The Beacons have won six games in a row for just the fifth time in program history and the first time since September 1-October 1, 2016 (10-straight).
- With the win, UMass Boston has now won nine of the past 10 meetings with Rhode Island College. Neither team has scored more than two goals in any of the 10 contests.
- During their six-game winning streak, the Beacons have outscored their opponents 21-3 and allowed just 16 shots on goal.
- Pattison earned his first collegiate assist on the first goal, while Suvak collected his first collegiate point on the play.
- The Anchormen had won eight-straight regular season games against LEC competition coming into Saturday's game.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will host rival UMass Dartmouth on Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m. for a conference showdown.
