DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The UMass Dartmouth men's soccer team was bested by Western Connecticut State University on Saturday afternoon during Little East Conference play by a final score 4-2. The Corsairs dropped to a 1-4-2 league record with the loss to the Wolves who remain undefeated in conference play with a 4-0 record.
Western Connecticut tested junior goalkeeper
Ethan Donahue early in the game forcing a save by the Salem native around the ninth minute of play. Shortly after, sophomore
Mario Rodriguez ripped a shot for UMass Dartmouth that went wide left and out of play.
The Wolves struck first at the 20:11 mark with a score by Ian Mounts to take a 1-0 lead in the game. Donahue posted his second save off a shot attempt by Maximus Vigo before Mounts collected the rebound and slotted the ball into the bottom corner to give the visitors the one-goal lead.
Sophomore Nate Corderio fired his first shot on frame for the Corsairs that Wolves goalkeeper Zachary Benson stopped near the 23
rd minute of the match. UMass Dartmouth continued to battle by registering three late shots in the half, but the Wolves headed into the break with their 1-0 edge.
The Corsairs offense came alive to start the second half as fifth year
Joey Paiva notched an early shot on target that Wolves goalkeeper Matthew Silva was able to save. About a minute later, Rodriguez scored his first goal of the season after redirecting the ball off a header from a thrown-in by first year
Brennan Hill that looped over everyone and into the back of the net to make it a 1-1 game.
A few minutes after Rodriguez's goal, the Corsairs took the lead as Cordeiro squeezed the ball past Silva off the feed from Paiva at the 55:49 mark to put UMass Dartmouth ahead 2-1. The contest quickly opened up as the Wolves responded with three shots including two shots that were blocked.
In the 62
nd minute of action, Mounts netted his second goal of the afternoon to once again tie the game to 2-2. Western Connecticut continued to put pressure on UMass Dartmouth's backline with Donahue posting another pair of saves just before the final 20 minutes of play.
Vigo regained the lead for the Wolves off the assist from George Cortes at the 70:28 mark to make it 3-2. The Corsairs found themselves down a player after receiving a red card to give the visitors the man-advantage for the last 10 minutes of the game, respectively. Nicola Acocella secured Western Connecticut's road victory with his score in the 83
rd minute to seal the Wolves win by a final score of 4-2.
Rodriguez scored his first collegiate goal for UMass Dartmouth along with registering a team-high four shots on the afternoon. Cordiero also netted his first career goal as a Corsair recording three total shots in the game. On the passing effort, Hill earned his first collegiate assist while Paiva tallied his third helper on the season.
Donahue picked up the loss for UMass Dartmouth after posting five saves and allowing four goals in net. Benson produced a pair of stops for the Wolves to secure the win while Silva ended the contest with one save and two goals allowed after 25 minutes of play.
UMass Dartmouth is on the road for their next LEC matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at Rhode Island College. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 pm from Providence, R.I.
