GORHAM, Maine. – After going into the half with a 2-1 lead, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth men's soccer team allowed two second-half scores as they fell to Southern Maine, 3-2, on Saturday. The Corsairs slip to 0-6-1 following the loss, while the Huskies improve to 3-5-1.
UMass Dartmouth started the game with an offensive push, with two shots on target in the first three minutes of the contest. In the fifth minute, on a break off of senior
Joey Paiva's pass, junior
Braeden LeClair netted his second goal of the season to put the Corsairs up 1-0. Southern Maine was able to even it out at 1-1 in the 22
nd minute of the game, when senior Wil Smith put one passed UMD's sophomore keeper
Cole Travers. The Corsairs continued their attack, wanting to reclaim their lead before going into halftime. They did just that when freshman
Seth Lee scored his first career goal with ten minutes left on the clock. Lee's goal was assisted by senior
Brayan Rivas, and the Corsairs took a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the half.
Trailing 2-1 early in the second half, the Huskies brought the attack to the Corsairs. Smith scored his second goal of the game for the Huskies to even the contest at 2-2 in the 79
th minute of action. Just two minutes later, Southern Maine was able to tack on another goal, Smith was credited the assist this time on freshman Cyrus Blake's goal. USM's back-to-back scores gave them a 3-2 advantage in the waning minutes of the contest. The Corsairs were unable to even the score back up, as they fell to the Huskies, 3-2.
UMass Dartmouth was out-shot by Southern Maine, 14-12 on the day. Leading the push for the Corsairs was the two goal-scorers, LeClair and Lee, as well as Paiva and Rivas, who each tallied assists. Freshman
Mario Rodriguez had two shots on target that were turned away by Southern Maine's junior keeper, Simon Gabaree. Gabaree stopped four Corsairs shots on the day.
UMass Dartmouth men's soccer team returns to the pitch on Wednesday, Sept. 27, when they travel to Boston, Mass. for an LEC battle with UMass Boston. Kickoff is scheduled for 12pm.