The Massachusetts men's soccer team wore the glass slipper in a classic Cinderella season, coming out of nowhere to win the Atlantic 10 tournament and reaching the College Cup last year. This season, they return to the A-10 tournament wearing a new garment: a crown.
UMass captured its first A-10 regular season title since 2002 Sunday in a 1-0 win over Charlotte - earning the No. 1 seed for this weekend's A-10 Championship in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Minutemen won the title a season ago, but did so as the No. 3 seed.
Because the Minutemen (9-6-2, 7-1-1 A-10) won the A-10, they will receive a first-round bye in the A-10 tournament. They will play in the semifinal game on Friday, and if they win, the championship game on Sunday.
UMass appears to be peaking at the right time. After starting off the season 2-6-2, the Minutemen went on an eight-game unbeaten streak, including six straight conference wins to position themselves for another tournament run.
"It's like anything else - if you're confident, you believe you will come out on top when you're on a winning streak like that," said UMass coach Sam Koch. "It's nothing but a positive, but you also have to realize how we got here and what are the things we did to make sure that we were winning games, and we have to keep focusing on those things."
UMass won three straight games to win the title and claim the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament in 2007. It was the start of a run that ended in the program's first berth to the College Cup. The experience from last year can give the Minutemen a slight edge this weekend.
"I think guys will know not to get their heads too blown up right now," said senior goalkeeper Zack Simmons. "I think we understand that we haven't accomplished anything yet and that is the biggest thing we can gain from last year's experience."
After being the underdog in last year's postseason run, the Minutemen know they cannot afford to take any team for granted, regardless of record or ability.
"[We know] we can get beat by anyone on any day, because we were able to do it to teams last year," Simmons said.
The tournament seeding is UMass No. 1, Temple No. 2, Dayton No. 3, Saint Louis No. 4, Fordham No. 5 and Rhode Island No. 6. UMass will play whichever team is the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals on Friday - Saint Louis, Fordham or Rhode Island.
The Minutemen have already faced all three of those teams this season. They defeated SLU 2-1 in double overtime and Fordham 2-0 in regulation. However, Rhode Island defeated them 1-0 on Oct. 12. It was the first and only conference loss the Minutemen endured all season.
"Every game is different; no one plays the same as they played the game before. Sometimes it gives you an idea of what they do so that's certainly helpful," Koch said. "But again, it's a new game, a new situation; we have to take care of what we do. That's the most important thing."
The first-round bye gives UMass several advantages - an extra day off, a chance to scout opponents and one less game to win. But it also brings the worry that the Minutemen will come out flat.
"They say that we're all 0-0 [when the playoffs begin], but we will play a team that's 1-0," Koch said. "So they've had a game already, they've had their jitters out, they are confident because they have just won a game, so there are advantages and disadvantages [to the bye]."
If the Minutemen can beat their opponent in the semifinals, they will have the opportunity to play for the championship Sunday. Koch believes his team is suited for a schedule with games that are almost back-to-back and feels his team will be well conditioned for Sunday, provided UMass wins its first game.
The A-10 tournament will be hosted at the Arthur J. Rooney field at Duquesne University. The games will be played on FieldTurf, rather than the natural grass surface that UMass plays on at Rudd Field. Koch has been holding this week's practices at McGuirk Stadium - the UMass football field - to get the Minutemen acclimated to the surface.
"[The turf] will be overall good for the quality of play. But it will make the game quicker, which isn't necessarily good for us," Simmons said. "But we've been practicing all week, and we played well last time we played on turf so I think we're adapting to it well."
Scott Feldman can be reached at sfeldman@student.umass.edu.
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