TROY, N.Y. – Junior forward
Josh DeAlmeida (Revere, Mass.) notched his first goal of the season and freshman midfielder
Ryan Lima (Lynn, Mass.) tacked on his first career collegiate goal in the first half as the Beacons made the most of first half mistakes from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Renwyck Field, en route to their first win of the 2022 season, 2-1.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 2, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1
UMass Boston (1-0-1)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (0-1-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
A relatively quiet opening 20 minutes between the two teams, in which neither team recorded a shot on goal, quickly gave way to offensive opportunities aplenty. DeAlmeida would be the first to cash in after a cross pass from sophomore midfielder
Elijah Elliott (Hope Tobago, Trinidad & Tobago) found its way to freshman forward
Nick Braganca (Beverly, Mass.) on the left side of the goal.
Braganca's pass back towards DeAlmeida made it by graduate goalkeeper Luke Brezak and to his foot with a defender in front of him. The Revere native briefly dribbled before kicking the ball with the back of his foot, facing away from the goal, and past two defenders in front of the net to give UMass Boston the early advantage in the 22
nd minute.
10 minutes later, Lima would make the most of a miscue by Brezak as the goalkeeper fumbled the ball near the freshman forward after a cross pass to the net. In the right place at the right time, Lima got a foot on the ball and fired through three defenders while being wrapped up at the ankle by Brezak to give the Beacons a 2-0 lead.
The Engineers would have a few quality chances against junior goalkeeper
Qasim El-Ashkar (Salem, Mass.) in the opening half with the best coming in the 42
nd minute by senior forward Gabe Terando. Terando lofted a ball just under the crossbar, but a leaping El-Ashkar was able to harmlessly knock it over the net as part of his three first half saves.
RPI would be unrelenting in their offensive end in the second half and the save of the game for El-Ashkar would come in the 55
th minute when junior midfielder Bradley Potter-Alvarez crossed the ball to junior forward Kyle Osborne. On the fly, Osborne headed the ball towards El-Ashkar who dove to the right and punched it wide of the net.
Two minutes later, the Engineers would cut the Beacon lead in half following a yellow card to sophomore defender
Luis Spinola (Brockton, Mass.). On the ensuing free kick by graduate forward Paul Silva, Osborne once again headed the ball, this time connecting with the upper left corner to make it 2-1 in the 57
th minute.
El-Ashkar would continue to stand strong in net over the final 33 minutes as RPI would record multiple quality chances down the stretch looking to tie up the match. In the 81
st minute, the junior goalkeeper turned away a header by sophomore midfielder Julio Rodriguez with a dive to his left.
A timely break by El-Ashkar on a cross pass from graduate defender Joaquin Rodriguez helped break up another quality chance in the 83
rd minute. A shot by Silva from 25 yards out with under two minutes remaining in the contest and a corner kick with less than a minute to go would be the last chances the Engineers would get against El-Ashkar as the Beacons secured the 2-1 road victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Qasim El-Ashkar recorded a career-high in saves, recording seven on the eight shots he faced. El-Ashkar's previous high was five saves against WPI on October 26th, 2021
- The Beacons were outshot 14-4 in the contest and 8-3 in shots on goal while only recording one shot in the second half of the game
- Aggressive play by both sides led to 21 combined fouls called (15-6 UMB) and four yellow cards issued (3-1 UMB)
- This was the first win for UMass Boston against RPI in the series history after dropping the only other matchup 2-1 back on August 30th, 2014
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons play their third game in five days on Labor Day Monday as they travel to Saratoga Springs, New York for a matchup against Skidmore College at Noon. This will be the first matchup between the two teams in program history.
