AMHERST, Mass. – In a rain-soaked battle that appeared to be headed toward overtime, junior forward Mark Colville scored in the 86th minute to lift the Saint Joseph's men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 opener at Rudd Field on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks now stand at 6-2-3 overall (1-0 A-10) while UMass falls to 1-8-0 overall (0-1 A-10).

In his first start donning the Crimson and Gray, Colville proved to be the difference-maker for the Hawks. The scoring play unfolded as Saint Joseph's junior forward Emmanuel Temeh gained control of a loose ball at the top of the kickoff circle on the UMass side of the field. Temeh dished a through ball to Colville, and Colville outraced a UMass defender and took off on the breakaway. SJU's junior forward then beat UMass goalkeeper Ryan Buckingham in a one-on-one situation, chipping his shot into the back of the net to put the Hawks' up, 1-0, with 4:55 remaining in regulation. 

The tally marks Colville's second as a Hawk, while Temeh's second assist of the season gives him a team-best eight points on the year. 

"We came out and had a slow start," said head coach Don D'Ambra following the match. "UMass was putting a good amount of pressure on us for about 15 minutes. We weathered the storm and controlled the rest of the game. I thought we played with good thought process and energy. We had a lot of dangerous opportunities and were not able to convert. Late in the game, Emmanuel [Temeh] played an excellent ball through to Mark [Colville], and he finished it with great composure. I felt we deserved to win the match and I was happy to get out of there with the result. UMass played us very tough and made it very difficult for us to get high-percentage chances. I was very proud of our team for staying persistent on getting the result in regulation."

Freshman goalkeeper Bobby Edwards (4-1-3) made three saves in a full-match effort to record his fourth shutout of the season. The first of his three saves came in the form of a phenomenal diving effort to his right to thwart the efforts of UMass' Matt Keys in the 16th minute. 

For the match, Saint Joseph's owned a commanding 18-8 advantage in shots over UMass. The Hawks took 12 of those shots in the second half while holding the Minutemen to three in the final 45:00. Colville took a team-best four shots, including two on goal, in 71 minutes of play. 

SJU also earned six of the match's seven total corner kicks. 

Saint Joseph's returns to action at Fordham next Sunday, October 12. Kickoff at Jack Coffey Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. 

MATCH NOTES: The victory marks the first time since 2007 that the program has won its conference opener... With six wins, the Hawks have already surpassed their total number of wins from last season with seven matches still to be played in 2014... SJU has now won more than five matches in one season for the first time since 2003... The Hawks now improve to 5-17-2 all-time against the Minutemen, winning their first match against them since 1998... Freshman midfielder Mike Akinkoye saw a season-high 44 minutes off the bench. 

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