DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Fifth year
Joey Paiva powered the UMass Dartmouth men's soccer team over Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 5-1, on Tuesday night netting a career-high four goals in the non-conference tilt against the Buccaneers. The Corsairs picked up their third overall win, and second victory on home turf, while the Buccaneers dropped to 2-11 with the loss.
Paiva quickly opened the scoring for the Corsairs in the 7
th minute of the game to give the home team an early 1-0 lead. The veteran forward stole the ball off the foot of a Buccaneer defender before dribbling around and firing a low shot into the bottom right corner. Midway through the half, the visitors equalized thanks to a score by Brody Calvert at the 22:54 mark on a breakaway to make it 1-1 heading into the break.
UMass Dartmouth soon grabbed a 2-1 advantage to start the second half of the game as Paiva netted his second goal of the night. Junior goalkeeper
Ethan Donahue launched the ball deep into the Buccaneers defensive third finding it's way to the feet of senior
Leo Brittes. Brittes crossed the ball towards the back post where Paiva made a late run to tap in his second goal for the Corsairs.
The Corsairs continued to generate scoring chances as sophomores
Mario Rodriguez and
Matt Kobrenski each ripped a shot on frame to force a pair of saves from Buccaneers goalkeeper Kaden Winter. At the 74:35 mark, Paiva's defensive pressure paid off stealing the ball away from a Buccaneer defender and calmly passing it around Winter to tally his second career hat trick.
The Dartmouth native answered again a few minutes later for the Corsairs finding the back of the net for the fourth time. Paiva battled along the edge of the Buccaneers penalty box before slotting the ball past Payton Neale to extend UMass Dartmouth's lead to 4-1.
In the remaining five minutes of the game, the Corsairs earned a free kick outside the penalty box after first year
Delano Costa was tripped up by Zach Todd. Senior
Andrew Pacheco stepped up to take the free kick and laced the ball off the crossbar. First year
Felipe Brittes headed the ball on target off the rebound before senior
Justin Petrillo buried the ball to cement UMass Dartmouth's 5-1 win over Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
The Corsairs outshot the Buccaneers 24-15 and held an 11-3 edge in total shots on-goal. The Buccaneers won the corner kick battle with six on the night compared to the Corsairs with four corner kicks.
Paiva's four goal performance marks a career-high for the fifth year forward who also ended the game with a team-high five shot attempts. Petrillo scored his fourth goal of the season while Brittes recorded his first collegiate assist in the win.
Donahue earned his third win in net for UMass Dartmouth following a two save performance and allowing just one goal after 80 minutes of play, respectively. Sophomore goalkeeper
Cole Berman finished the game for the Corsairs making his second career appearance in net.
UMass Dartmouth wrap up the 2024 campaign on the road at Plymouth State University for the final regular season game of the year. The Little East Conference tilt is slated for a 3:00 pm start time from Plymouth, N.H.
