ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure University men's soccer team dropped an Atlantic 10 contest, 5-2, to Massachusetts Wednesday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Complex.
The Bonnies were able to jump ahead of the Minutemen in the 12th minute when Umechi Akuazaoku found Rafael Pereira down the right side of the field. Pereira made a quick cutback pass to a waiting Kenzo Brito who finished his fourth goal of the season.
Massachusetts (5-4-3, 2-2-0 A-10), however, picked up the game-tying goal on a free kick off the foot of Nick Zielonka in the 32nd minute, sending his shot under the wall of defense for the score.
The game was tied at the half, but the Minutemen would take control after the break.
UMass was awarded a penalty shot following a foul in the box in the 63rd minute and the Atlantic 10's leading scorer Alec Hughes stepped to the spot and gave the Minutemen a 2-1 lead.
Just over seven minutes later, Massachusetts was awarded a second penalty shot in the half. This time Zielonka was the one who finished the chance at the spot for his second tally of the game.
Hughes added a second goal in the 80th minute and Mike Willis made it a 5-1 contest with a goal in the 89th minute.
Luc Finelli notched his first career goal for the Bonnies (4-5-2, 1-3-0 A-10) in the 89th minute off a feed from Daniel Helle, but it was too late as UMass closed out the victory.
Jules Dechert made four saves for the Bonnies in net while Brito, Akuazaoku and Helle paced the Bona's offense with two shots each.
The Bonnies are back in action Saturday, Oct. 7 on the road at George Washington. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 p.m. in the nation's capital.
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