The Massachusetts men's soccer team has built its program, its philosophy and its reputation on defense. Tonight the Minutemen will have to live beyond their reputation if they hope to slow down defending national champion Wake Forest's offensive machine.
The amount of goals that the undefeated, No. 1 ranked Demon Deacons (10-0-0) has scored so far this season is impressive by soccer standards. After 10 games Wake Forest has scored 36 goals, which is an average of 3.6 goals per game. In the Demon Deacons' game last Saturday against Virginia Tech, they scored eight goals while not allowing a goal until the 75th minute in their 8-2 win. By comparison, UMass has scored seven goals this season.
"We've got to make sure that we don't make mistakes and defend really well as a team," UMass coach Sam Koch said. "We are going to do a lot of defending [tonight], no question about that. We will defend a lot and look for the counter."
Wake Forest's top two offensive threats are Marcus Tracy and Corben Bone. Tracy is the team's No. 1 option. The forward has racked up eight goals alongside six assists, while Bone is an excellent set-up passer. The midfielder has tallied eight assists with three goals. However, even if the Minutemen can shut those two down, the Demon Deacons have three other players with four or more goals.
UMass has shown a stout defense up to this point in the season. It has allowed nine goals and managed to keep every game within reach. Not once have the Minutemen fallen behind by more than one goal at any point in the season. Of course, the Maroon and White have not faced an opponent with Wake Forest's goal-scoring prowess either.
Koch mentioned that one of the keys for the Minutemen to have success is to not allow any goals in the first 15 minutes. If UMass can survive the initial flurry of the Demon Deacons, the Minutemen will give themselves a chance to pull of an upset.
"The main thing is we have to prevent scoring in the first 15 minutes," Koch said. "They have scored a number of goals early against other teams. If we can weather the storm, so to speak, it will be a good game."
As usual, the Minutemen defense will be anchored by senior Chris Brown, who has started every possible game in his career (73 straight starts), and has been the backbone of the defense all season. It will be his responsibility to insure that the defense plays aggressive and keeps as much pressure as possible on Wake Forest.
One of Wake Forest's major strengths is team speed. They are widely recognized as having some of the fastest players in collegiate soccer and very good at maintaining control of the ball while moving at full speed. The Minutemen must not give them room to run.
"[We have] to take space away from them, we can't slow down. If we can take away the space they want to run into, then they won't be as fast," Koch said.
Wake Forest averages nearly 18 shots per game and more than half their shots are on net. Even if the Minutemen defense has an exceptionally good day, it's likely that senior goalkeeper Zack Simmons will have a busy night.
He is considered one of the top goalkeepers in the nation and he will be given the unenviable task of being UMass' last line of defense against the Demon Deacons. However, Koch did mention there is an upside to Simmons facing a lot of shots.
"All goalkeepers, the more action they get, the more they're in the game, so that's a positive," Koch said.
If the Minutemen are to pull off the upset, it will be their defense that gives them the chance.
Scott Feldman can be reached at sfeldman@student.umass.edu.
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