BOSTON, Mass. – Lorenzo Lauria scored the lone goal to lift third-seed WestConn to a 1-0 Little East Conference Tournament semi-final win over two-seed men's soccer Thursday evening at James Cotter Field.
THE BASICS
#2 UMass Boston 0, #3 WestConn 1
UMass Boston (13-4-1)
WestConn (17-5-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
With the win WestConn will now face top-seed Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday at 1 p.m. WestConn has now defeated the Beacons in back-to-back postseason tournaments. In 2019, WestConn defeated the Beacons in penalty kicks in Danbury, CT.
Lauria's game-winning game came in the 71
st minute when the freshman forward hit a low long range shot that beat Beacons goalkeeper
JJ Devine (Halifax, Mass.).
That goal would stand for the final 20 minutes, despite a pair of solid chances by the Beacons offense.
One of those chances came with less than 10 minutes to play when Yuran Texeira (Praia, Cape Verde) got off a shot that was dropped by WestConn's Daniel Szabo.
Szabo, made four stops in the shutout victory, while Devine ended the contest with three saves.
BY THE NUMBERS
- WestConn held a 15-12 advantage in shots; The teams were even in shots on goal with four each
- In total three yellow cards were issued to each team as the rivals combined for 32 fouls respectively
- UMass Boston held a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks
- All-time the Beacons are now 11-17-5 against WestConn
- Thursday's loss was the Beacons first home LEC Tournament loss in the Jake Beverlin era
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will now have to wait to see if they get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show will be held next Monday on ncaa.com. The Beacons are currently ranked seventh in the region.
