AMHERST, Mass. – A University of Delaware foul late in the first half  resulted in a 1-0 setback to the University of Massachusetts in the 2012  season opener for the Blue Hen men's soccer team Friday afternoon at  UMass’ Rudd Field. 

With the loss, Delaware (0-1) and Massachusetts (1-0) have traded home  victories over the past two seasons. The Blue Hens, coming off the best  season in school history in 2011 when Delaware went 13-6-4, captured the  Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title, and won an NCAA  Tournament first round game,  collected a 3-0 win over the Minutemen a  year ago in Newark. 

A foul called against Delaware gave a direct kick opportunity to UMass  with four minutes left in the first half. Connor Devivio then smashed a  shot from 25 yards out through traffic and into the net at the 41-minute  mark of the first half for the only score in the match. 

"A deserved result on the day," said Delaware head coach Ian Hennessy,  who began his sixth season at the helm of the Blue Hens. "Credit to  UMass on managing the game. Unfortunately, I feel we have a number of  players still stuck on last season and think showing up unfit and not  mentally ready to preseason makes for continued success.” 

“We were deservedly punished today in all phases of the game and will  need a huge effort to even compete well against our ACC brethren (North  Carolina and Duke) next week,” he added. “I still strongly feel that we  have the potential to have a strong and positive season particularly in  the conference, but we will certainly need to progress and learn from  today's game." 

The Blue Hens tallied seven shots during the game with juniors Roberto  Gimenez and Luke Oostdyk each collecting two shots apiece in the loss. 

Making his first career start in goal for the Blue Hens, sophomore Jay  Lupas made six saves. 

UMass forward Josh Schwartz led the Minutemen with six of the team’s 11  shots in the victory.  Devivo registered three shots to go along with  his goal. Minuteman goalkeeper Brian Frame registered the shutout after  facing only two shots on goal.  

The Blue Hens will look to return to winning ways next week as they  travel to North Carolina to take on North Carolina State Aug. 31 (5:30  p.m.) and Duke Sept. 2 (2:30 p.m.). Both games will be played on the  Duke campus in Durham, N.C.

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