DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by the first hat trick of senior
Joey Paiva's career, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's soccer team took a 5-2 victory over Westfield State on Thursday. The Corsairs earn their first win of the season and improve to 1-8-2, as the Owls slip to 4-4-1.
When trailing 1-0 in the 22
nd minute of the first half, senior
Kyle Rhines put one past the WSU goalkeeper. Rhines' first career goal came off an assist from junior
Matt Gibeau. Rhines' goal was the first of many to come for the Corsairs, who scored a season-best five times.
Just two minutes after the goal from Rhines, Paiva kicked off his career day with a soft touch to lob the ball over the attacking keeper. The Corsairs took a 2-1 lead into the halftime break.
After a three-minute stretch where four yellow cards were awarded, two to either team, UMass Dartmouth struck again. Off of senior
Brayan Rivas' corner kick, senior
Rafael Raposo squeezed in a header inside the short upright, giving UMD a 3-1 lead in the 48
th minute.
Rivas earned his second assist on another corner kick in the 57
th minute, finding Paiva for his second goal of the contest. Paiva completed his hat trick in the 67
thminute, when he rocketed one into the net from outside the box. The Corsairs led 5-1 after Paiva's third score on the day.
Westfield State scored two more times to narrow the gap, including a SportsCenter top-10 worthy bicycle-kick goal from freshman Paul Whalley off of a late corner kick.
The Corsairs' win was highlighted by Paiva and his three goals. Raposo and Rhines also scored, and Rivas recorded two assists. UMD used two goalkeepers in
Cole Travers and then
Kellen Porter. Meanwhile the Owls used their whole goalkeeper cast today, with four different keepers seeing time on the field.
The Corsairs look to ride the momentum from this win into Danbury, Connecticut on Saturday, October 7. UMass Dartmouth takes on Western Connecticut in a 12PM LEC kickoff.
