Change aplenty as 2025 season gets underway for UMass men’s soccer team

By RYAN AMES

Staff Writer

Although recent temperatures throughout the Pioneer Valley would suggest otherwise, the college fall sports season is just around the corner as the UMass men’s soccer team kicks off its 2025 campaign with its first of two exhibitions, starting with a trip to Boston on Saturday against Northeastern.

The Minutemen made waves in the college soccer world a year ago as they advanced all the way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in serendipitous fashion. Five of the previous six seasons saw UMass string seven wins together, so the Minutemen’s NCAA Tournament run in 2024 was rather unexpected, to say the least.

However, UMass will not be sneaking up on anyone this season as it was recently slotted into the No. 8 spot in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll among the top-10 teams in the country.

“The top-10 ranking is off the back of what we accomplished last year, which was a terrific season,” Minutemen head coach Fran O’Leary, who’s entering season 11 at the helm, said after practice on Friday. “But many of the guys who played last year will now be anxious to defend their national ranking and put on competitive displays right from the start of the season.”

UMass concluded the 2024 season 13-4-5, its most wins since 2017 when it went 15-4-3.

The team that knocked the Minutemen out of the NCAAs last year, Denver, will now be a conference foe as UMass joined the Summit League following the school’s departure from the Atlantic 10 on July 1.

Starting this season, the Minutemen will now regularly matchup with the likes of Denver, Omaha, Kansas City, Oral Roberts, St. Thomas and Delaware within Summit League action.

“In the country, I think the ACC is first, the Big 10 is second and the Summit is third,” O’Leary said regarding the competition level of the Summit League. “The fact that you’ve got three teams within the top-20 preseason, sort of tells you what a top conference it is. We obviously lost in the quarters to Denver, they went to the Final Four, we went to the Elite Eight, Kansas [City] went to the Sweet Sixteen, so we’re going to have our hands full to be competitive in this conference.”

The Pioneers picked up the No. 4 spot in the preseason poll while the Roos found themselves at No. 18.

Despite the stiff competition expected, UMass should be able to rely on its backfield as it brought back key pieces such as Matt Fordham and Brad Moccio, plus goalie Alex Geczy–who are all graduate students–and they intend to keep opposing offenses at bay once again this season.

“I think we always try to make sure we’re solid defensively,” Fordham said. “We make sure that we provide the strikers with as much grace as possible. One goal should win a game, as long as we’re solid back there. They give us as much grace by coming back and helping us to defend and we try to do the same in return.”

Aidan Kelly, A.J. Cucinotta and Alex Brown round out the seniors the Minutemen will be able to rotate through on the backline and O’Leary expressed confidence when asked about his defenders.

“We finished the season I think ranked second in the country in shutouts,” O’Leary said. “There’s 212 Division I teams so to finish second in clean sheets is very impressive. We’re delighted to have them all back, but last season is history, now we’ve got to do it again.”

Up front, UMass will look to fill a sizable hole left by Alec Hughes, who was drafted in the first round (22nd overall) by Los Angeles FC in the MLS SuperDraft this past spring following an remarkable career with the Minutemen.

Hughes tallied more than 100 career points at UMass and was the first-ever player to be awarded the A-10 Offensive Player of the Year Award three years in a row.

Matt Cence and Kelly count as two of the top returning point-getters from last season’s squad as the duo each netted 10 points.

Among the new faces the Minutemen brought in, Magnus Ingi Halldorsson and Shun Murasawa have looked good so far, according to Fordham, and the pair will likely get an opportunity to make an impression during Saturday’s friendly against the Huskies.

Although, O’Leary cautioned that the lineup in August is hardly ever the same as the lineup in October.

“We’re excited about them all, but it’ll take a little bit of time to sort itself out,” O’Leary said. “Some settle in a little quicker than others.”

Quinn Belt, Thomas Wadas, Gavin Brummer, J.P. Mbuthia, Harry Clapham, Taylon Gayle, Kwame Adu-Gyamfi, Jalen Belong and Crew Hartlage are the other UMass newcomers.

“A lot of new guys up front so we’re excited to see what they’re going to do, we have high hopes for them,” Moccio said.

The Minutemen still have about two weeks before they welcome Sienna on August 21 for its regular-season opener, but will get a couple tune-ups against Northeastern, then UAlbany next weekend, in the meantime.

A little later down the line, UMass will get a chance to avenge its loss against Denver when the Pioneers come to Amherst for a regular-season bout at Rudd Field on Oct. 4.

At this point though, the Minutemen are focusing on developing chemistry with the hope that the 2025 slate will be another triumphant one on the pitch.

“Obviously with a new group of guys coming into the starting 11, we want to make sure that everyone’s on the same page,” Fordham said on the upcoming exhibition. “We’re using it as an opportunity to get better, opportunity to figure things out, whether it’s set pieces, whether it’s how we want to set up as a team. It’s a chance to get better and we really got to use it to our advantage.”

“Getting weaknesses exposed is honestly not a bad thing, just because we can build on that and get ready for the start of the season,” Moccio said.