BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman forward Nick Braganca (Beverly, Mass.) scored his first collegiate goal for the Beacons in the second half against Salve Regina University as UMass Boston worked to a 1-1 tie in their 2022 opener on the road at Toppa Field.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 1, Salve Regina University 1

UMass Boston (0-0-1)

Salve Regina University (0-0-1)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Braganca's first collegiate goal came on the long pass from junior forward Josh DeAlmeida (Revere, Mass.) in the 56^th minute of play. Splitting between two defenders, Braganca buried the shot into the bottom right corner of the net past senior goalkeeper Nathan Reid.

The Beacons would be aggressive in the early going on the contest with sophomore forward Annilson DePina Fernandes (Dorchester, Mass.) firing on Reid in the 12^th minute after streaking past two defenders, who swallowed up the shot.

Eight minutes later, DeAlmeida nearly got the Beacons on the board, rifling a shot to the right of a diving Reid who pulled the ball in to keep the game scoreless. A free kick by sophomore defender Diego Gisholt (Newton, Mass.) with just under 20 minutes remaining in the first half would round out the best chances UMass Boston would have in the opening 45 minutes of play.

Following the Braganca goal, Salve Regina would respond with a goal of their own in the 66^th minute. A caroming ball would find the foot of defender Liam Berlingieri who lofted a shot from nearly 30 yards out, off the post, and into the goal to tie the score up at one.

The Seahawks' goal was their first in their last four games against the Beacons with the last coming in 2014 when UMass Boston came away with a 5-1 victory.

Over the final 24 minutes of play, DeAlmeida would register an opportunity that went wide of the goal mouth and sophomore midfielder Elijah Elliott (Hope Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago) hooked a shot into the arms of Reid for two quality chances to let the Beacons jump ahead.
 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• The tie between the Beacons have drawn against Salve Regina, winning five of their first six matchups, including the last four, coming into the evening.
• Despite being out shot 14-9, the two teams recorded five shots on goal and four saves apiece. Three of the five UMass Boston shots on goal came in the first half.
• Aggressive play by both teams led to two yellow cards for each side in the contest.
• In his first start of the season, junior goalkeeper Qasim El-Ashkar (Salem, Mass.) earned the decision in the draw, allowing one goal on five shots (four saves).

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday for a 6:00 PM matchup with the Engineers.