PLYMOUTH, N.H. - UMass Boston Men's Soccer brought their early-season firepower with them on the first day of Little East Conference play, outpacing Plymouth State University for a 4-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 4, Plymouth State University 0

UMass Boston (6-1-0, 1-0-0)
Plymouth State University (1-1-2, 0-1-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons are no strangers to fast starts this season. Their first goal of the match, however, came from a very unexpected source. A Plymouth State own goal in the 24th minute gave the Beacons an early 1-0 lead.

Heading into halftime, the Beacons added to their lead, this time courtesy of a player wearing a UMass Boston jersey. Standout freshman Rafael Gross' third goal of the season put the visitors ahead 2-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the period. 

Though Qasim El-Ashkar's shutout performance in net proved two scores to be more than enough, the Beacons high-octane offense went ahead and added insurance in the second half. For the seventh time in seven games, UMass Boston's standout newcomer Gabriel Meireles found the back of the net, extending the lead to 3-0.

For their fourth and final score of the afternoon, the Beacons awoke a sleeping giant. Josh DeAlmeida, who lead UMass Boston to the 2022 LEC championship with a team-high nine goals, ended his drought, netting his first score of the season in the 79th minute.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Saving all three shots he saw in his 90 minutes in net, El-Ashkar earned his second complete game shutout of the season
  • His goal against average now sits at .571, good for second best in the LEC
• Meireles has recorded a point in all seven games this season and at least one goal in six
  • His 17 points are the most in the conference
• The Beacons outshot the Panthers 19-9
• Defenders Ian Visnick and Diego Gisholt each logged 90 minutes on the pitch on Saturday, the fifth such game this season for Gisholt and the third for Visnick
• The Beacons have not lost to Plymouth State since the 2015 season, improving their record in the all-time series to 13-27-6

WHO'S NEXT
Men's Soccer will return to Monan Soccer Field on Monday, September 18 when they take on Bridgewater State at 1 PM.