Minutemen release 2007 schedule

Men's Soccer
Joe Meloni

After a season that produced one of the best starts in program history before one of the worst conference showings in program history, the Massachusetts men's soccer team released its schedule for the 2007 season. This year marks the team's 75th anniversary.

The Minutemen welcome back 10 of their 11 starters from last season - including 2007 Atlantic 10 First Team All-Conference defender Kenny Cook (senior) and leading scorers Bryan Hogan (sophomore) and Prince Ofosu (junior).

UMass begins the season with consecutive home games against Long Island and Providence before a six-game road trip beginning on Aug. 31 at Maine and ending Sep. 16 at Harvard.

In 2006, the Minutemen began the season 6-2-1 against non-conference opponents before ending the season with a 2-6-2 stretch against teams within the A-10. Of the 10 games against A-10 teams, six of them were played on the road which certainly affected the play of the team negatively. Opponents held the Minutemen scoreless from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 - a stretch of five games that basically ended UMass' season.

The 2007 schedule has only two road trips during the conference schedule for the Minutemen. They travel to Saint Louis and then to Charlotte from Oct. 19 to Oct. 21. Then have three home games against defending A-10 Champion Rhode Island, La Salle and Fordham. Last season, La Salle handed UMass its worst loss of the season, a 5-0 drubbing on Oct. 1.

The season ends with a trip to Philadelphia for games with Saint Joseph's and Temple on Nov. 9 and 11. The Minutemen defeated Temple, 2-0, last season and played to a scoreless tie with St. Joe's.

If UMass qualifies, the A-10 Tournament is in Dayton, Ohio, and is scheduled for Nov. 15, 16 and the A-10 Championship game is on Nov. 18.

The Minutemen possess the abilty to contend for a conference title, but will need to make some adjustments to achieve the offensive consistency they lacked in 2006. Players like Hogan and Ofosu are dynamic enough to create opportunities, but must learn to operate within the conservative style UMass coach Sam Koch preaches.

The team's defense is among the best in the conference but occasional lapses in both concentration and execution found the Minutemen on the wrong end of leads at crucial points in the game. Leaders like Cook and record-setting goalkeeper Zack Simmons have already established themselves as two of the best defensive players in the conference and team leaders, but the rest of UMass' defense and midfield unit must do a better job of maintaining proper positioning.

With the team returning basically its entire roster, it must view 2007 as a chance to contend for the conference championship and an NCAA Tournament birth.