The UMass Boston men’s soccer team lost by the score of 5-0 to Western Connecticut State on Saturday, October 26.The game was called with 25 minutes remaining in the second half because of severity of the inclement weather.

UMass Boston played with their characteristic grit and hustle, but the team was outscored by a veteran Western Connecticut State squad.Western Connecticut scored three goals in the first half, and the game ended after they scored their second goal of the second half.

The field was completely saturated with water at the start of the game and the rain kept on falling. Parts of the field stopped the ball deader than the infamous “dead spots” on the old Boston Garden parquet floor. It made for interesting conditions; dribbling the ball was out of the question; short passing was king.

In the first half, UMass Boston captain Georgio Bantos played at forward in an effort to generate some offense. The Beacons did get some chances. With four minutes left in the half, UMB got two consecutive legitimate scoring opportunities. The first was a cross inside the Western box; the ball skidded past an open net and two Beacons failed to put it in. It was deflected out by Western Connecticut State, so UMass got a second opportunity on a corner kick. It was a quality kick setting up a shot from ten yards out, the shot went less than a yard wide of the left post.

All three goals in the first half were variations of the same play. In the second goal of the half, Western Connecticut State got the ball at midfield, and came down the sideline for an open shot. The shot was blocked by Tady, but a Western Connecticut State player got the rebound and scored. Their offense was showcasing a quick counterstrike as its most potent weapon. Their prevailing strategy of developing the play was moving down field on the flanks, switching field and crossing the ball to the center was being negated by the aggressive defense of the UMass defenders and midfielders.

The counterstrike, however, revealed the weakness of the UMass defense, an overall lack of speed. Of four quick strikes, Daniel Sleeper, who showed good closing speed, was the only one who managed to break one up.

The second half did not play like the first half (one reason was that it was 25 minutes shorter).UMass Boston came into the half with decent momentum. After the third goal of the first half, the Beacons stopped a flurry of Western Connecticut State advances from developing into scoring opportunities and shut them down. Bantos was back on defense giving them more speed.

The first goal of the second half came on a penalty kick. Felix Frimpong, who played assertively all day, slidetackled a Western Connecticut State player in the box and it was 4-0 only two minutes in.

The final goal, which was on a two-on-one effectively ended the game. However, the Beacons did not give in at any point. They played their strongest when Western Connecticut State threatened with numbers. The final score does not tell the story of this game; it was a cold wet game of unreadable ball movements, hidden puddles, howling winds, and grit.