Mike Rita of UMass, left, and St. Francis’ Faouzi Taleb, battle to win control of the ball in the first half Friday at Rudd Field in Amherst. UMass won 2-1.
Mike Rita of UMass, left, and St. Francis’ Faouzi Taleb, battle to win control of the ball in the first half Friday at Rudd Field in Amherst. UMass won 2-1. Credit: COURTESY ANTHONY ROBERTS

Mike Rita’s second half goal gave the UMass men’s soccer team a 2-1 home win over St. Francis in its season opener on Friday.

Alex Desantis and Matthew Mooney assisted for the Minutemen (1-0).

UMass took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by Brandon Merklin assisted by Henry Steinkamp.

In net, Bardia Asefnia made one save for the Minutemen.

Women’s soccer

Stony Brook 2, UMass 0 — The Minutewomen (0-2) could not get going offensively in the home loss.

UMass managed 12 shots, four on net.

Cassidy Babin made three saves in net for UMass.

Field hockey

UMass 8, Holy Cross 3 — Barb Weinberg’s first game as field hockey coach was a home win for the Minutewomen.

A five-goal run in the second half helped UMass (1-0) pull away.

Lucy Cooper (three assists), Sarah Hankshaw and Melanie Kreusch each had two goals for UMass.

Georgia McTear and Nicole Kuerzi also scored.