DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by energetic performances from the seniors being celebrated on their final game on Cressy Field, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's soccer team took a 2-1 victory over Plymouth State on Saturday. The Corsairs end their season on a high note with the win and complete their season with a 2-12-4 overall record and a 1-5-2 mark in LEC play. The Panthers conclude their 2023 regular season with a 4-7-5 record overall, and finished 0-5-3 within the conference.
The Corsairs celebrated six seniors prior to the start of the match;
Brandon Araujo,
Sam Matias,
Joey Paiva,
Rafael Raposo,
Brayan Rivas and
Jack Waterhouse all played in their final match on Cressy Field, and all earned the start. These seniors came out with a fire that could be seen in their play early on. The early aggression paid off less than seven minutes after kickoff, when junior
Justin Petrillo led a pass inside to Paiva, who quick-tapped it over to Rivas to score the game's first goal. In his senior day game, Rivas scored his first goal of the season and second of his career as a Corsair.
Plymouth State responded in the 25
th minute when junior Walter Driscoll evened the contest at 1-1 on his unassisted score. The two programs took their halftime break with the scored tied up, 1-1.
Head coach
Jason Burnett went back to what worked in the second half, starting the back-45 minutes with the same group that started the game. This time it only took two minutes of play for the Corsairs to put another one on the board. Petrillo, who was already credited an assist on the earlier UMD goal, weaved his way through the Panther defense and found himself a shot on goal that he cashed in on, putting the Corsairs back on top, 3-2. Petrillo's score marks his second of the season and fourth of his career thus far.
UMass Dartmouth kept up the aggression, tallying 12 shot attempts in the second half alone. UMD put on one of their best all-around performances of the season, out-shooting the Panthers 24-16 for the match, with 10 Corsairs shots on-target. Defensively, the Corsairs held strong the entire second half, only allowing six PSU shot attempts. Waterhouse secured the win in the net by stopping five of the six shots he faced over 90 minutes of work.
The Corsairs' win was highlighted by Petrillo's three points with a goal and an assist on Rivas's goal. Despite finishing their regular season with a win, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's soccer team will not be participating in the Little East Conference Tournament, and their 2023 season comes to a close.
