Keene State Men’s Soccer managed to tie with University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) during its game this past Saturday, Sept. 27, the final score being 1-1.
The Owls were coming off a 4-2 win against Fitchburg State the previous Tuesday, with a record of 6-2. UMass Boston was also coming off a 4-1 win against Rhode Island College, with a record of 4-2-2.
The first period of the game was defined by a dominant performance by the Beacons, having made more shots than KSC and kept the pressure up almost the whole time. Around the 11-minute mark, Beacons junior John Arruda used his position on the field to score the first goal of the game, his sixth of the season, making it 1-0 in favor of UMass Boston.
The rest of the period saw a quiet KSC offense, having only five recorded shots compared to the Beacons’ recorded ten during the same time frame. While the Beacons managed to score early on, Owls senior goalkeeper Eldin Husanovic managed to prevent any more goals for the rest of the period, and subsequently, the rest of the game. At the 45-minute mark, the period ended with UMass Boston up 1-0 over the Owls.
The second period opened with a familiar sight: the Beacons were on the offensive. During the first 11 minutes of the second period, the Beacons managed to get six shots off, though only one actually went on the goal. The Owls did not have the same luck, having three recorded shots during the same amount of time.
All was not lost, however, as the Owls began to put pressure on the Beacons as the second period progressed, trying to tie the game up. The Owls had managed to get more shots during the second half compared to the first, 11 in total compared to UMass Boston’s ten overall.
With less than five minutes to go in the game, sophomore Martin Lubunga sent a shot down the field that found senior Nicholas Henao Vasquez, who managed to score Keene’s first goal of the game and tied it up 1-1 with not much time left in the game.
Both teams made several attempts to score in the final minutes of the game, trying to come up with a last-minute win over the other. None of these attempts bore fruit, however, and the game buzzer sounded, bringing an end to the game with a 1-1 tie. This became Keene’s first tie of the season, and the third for UMass Boston.
The Owls head on the road for their next game, going against Rivier University on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
