By Dylan Botelho, Staff Writer
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth sophomore Soccer Goalkeeper, Danny Andrade, earned the Little East Conferences Goalkeeper of the week award on Monday, September 25. The award is the team’s first Little East Conference honors of the season.
Andrade earned the honors after a solid shutout-outing in net in his third start of the season. Andrade made five saves, many in-tight and game saving to keep UMass Dartmouth in their game against Eastern Connecticut.
Senior, Fabio Araujo, eventually put the nail in the coffin on the Warriors, when he scored in the 82nd minute, very close to stoppage. The Corsairs finished the game strong and earned their second Little East Conference victory.
Andrade’s shutout kept a sort-of tradition going on, with it being the Corsairs fourth shutout against the Warriors in the last five seasons.
The Corsairs are now 2-0-0 in Little East Conference play, and they have Andrade to thank for most of their success. Andrade is 2-0-0 in conference play, finishing out both victories this season.
He ranks sixth in the Little Eastern Conference with a 1.59 goals against average in overall play and has a stellar .857 save percentage that ranks him second in conference play.
As a first year student, Andrade was a solid backup to Corsairs starting goaltender, Luis Carranza. Andrade was 3-0 in games he reached a decision on and tallied an impressive 1.26 goals against average in his first season.
That performance was good enough to earn him the starting job this season, and he hasn’t disappointed.
His most recent outings after winning the award didn’t go nearly has planned however. In a non-conference game against Dean College, the Corsairs drew 2-2 after a scoreless double overtime. Andrade made a spectacular 8 saves in the matchup but an own-goal after Dean’s, Sam Fonseca’s shot ricocheted off the cross-bar and mishandled by the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs defense ultimately lead to the eventual tie.
The Corsairs returned to Little East Conference play on Saturday, September 30, and fell hard to Western Connecticut on the road, loosing 4-0. The Colonials scored three goals in less than twenty minutes in the second half, unloading on the Corsairs defense.
UMass Dartmouth will play on Tuesday, October 3 against Mass Maritime and Saturday October, 7 against Rhode Island College to open up the new month.
The Corsairs started the season with a rather disappointing record of 2-1-4 to open the season but will look to bounce back as they begin to compete in more Little East Conference games.
If they get Andrade’s play for the week he snagged home the Goal Keeper of the Week award, along with goal-support from the offense, they will have good things ahead of them in the month of October.