BOSTON, Mass. - Saturday afternoon's matchup between UMass Boston Men's Soccer and Rhode Island College left nothing to be desired in terms of drama. After falling into a 3-1 second half deficit, the Beacons leaned on their top goal scorers to battle back to a 3-3 draw.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 3, Rhode Island College 3

UMass Boston (8-2-1, 2-0-1 LEC)
Rhode Island College (5-2-3, 1-1-2 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons found themselves in hot water early on Saturday morning when a JJ Devine save quickly turned into an opportunity on the rebound for RIC's Jonathan Oliveira. Less than 10 minutes into the game, Rhode Island College found themselves with a 1-0 lead.

True to form, the response from the UMass Boston offense was almost as quick as the first. In the 19th minute of the half, the Beacons were awarded three consecutive corner kick opportunities, the third of which was perfectly fed to Logan Erickson-Potter from Ryan Lima, evening the score at one apiece.

The game appeared to be slipping away from the Beacons in the second half as Oliveira turned two fast break opportunities into two more goals to give him a hat trick on the day and a 3-1 lead for the Anchormen.

Despite tempers flaring, UMass Boston found a much needed spark in the 74th minute. With Josh DeAlmeida facing pressure on the baseline, he placed a pass directly onto the boot of Lima, who knocked in the goal to tie Gabriel Meireles for the team lead and cut the deficit to 3-2.

Not looking to be outdone, just minutes later, Meireles took a pass from Annilson DePina and reclaimed his title as the Beacons' top goal scorer, knotting the game at three goals apiece. What once looked like a Rhode Island College blowout ended in a 3-3 draw for the conference foes.

BY THE NUMBERS

• After scoring just one goal in the first four games of the season, Erickson-Potter has formed into the team's third-leading scorer behind four goals in the last three games
• Of the five players tied for the Little East Conference lead with four assists, three play for UMass Boston
  • Lima, Meireles, and John Arruda each have four
•  Meireles has scored 10 goals in 10 games at UMass Boston
• The LEC's top three goal scorers all played and scored in Saturday's match
  • Oliveira (11), Meireles (10), and Lima (9)
• The Beacons are undefeated in their last five matchups with the Anchormen and lead the all-time series 20-23-3

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will kick off a three-game roadtrip on Tuesday, October 3 when they travel to New London, Connecticut for a non-conference match against the United States Coast Guard Academy. The match will mark the first ever Men's Soccer match between UMass Boston and Coast Guard.