UConn Huskies Sports Roundup, October 19th, 2011

Women's Cross Country: UConn's team is nationally ranked for the first time in program history. The USTFCCCA announced yesterday that the Huskies were ranked 28th in the nation. This comes following a 2nd place finish at Penn State Nationals. A press release on the UConn website can be found here and quotes coach Andrea Grove-McDonough as saying "I am so happy for the team and for what this will mean to them. These women have worked so hard this summer. Right from the start when we talked about bringing Connecticut to the NCAA Championships in Cross Country.... This team ... believed that it was possible, and set about quietly making it happen. They should all be very proud of themselves," We haven't reached the championships yet, but we're well on our well.

Field Hockey: For the eighth straight week, the Huskies are ranked #4 in the NFHCA Coaches Poll. The Top 3 of Old Dominion, UNC, and Maryland also remained the same. Notably, however, Duke leapfrogged Syracuse to #5, relegating the Orange to #6. The Orange and Huskies will square off on Sunday at noon for the Big East regular season championship. But first, the Huskies host Boston University tonight at 7:00. That game can be seen on Huskies All-Access.

The Huskies upset
Michael Budd and
UMass Lowell in
Nashua, NH last night.

Men's Soccer: So much for the undefeated season. UConn was dealt their first loss yesterday, 2-0  at West Virginia. The Huskies fall to 13-1-1, and are 4-1-1 in Big East play. Fortunately, they will still be in second place in the Blue Division heading into the weekend, but will host Georgetown on Saturday at 7:30 PM in a crucial contest. That is Senior Night and will be on WHUS and All-Access. The Huskies will then host Marquette a week from today which could decide the Blue Division Champion.

Men's Ice Hockey: Marcello Ranallo scored the game-winning goal in OT and the Huskies defeated UMass-Lowell, 3-2. UConn improves to 2-1-1 on the year. Miles Winter and Brant Harris also scored for the Huskies. This was an impressive victory because the Riverhawks were heavy favorites heading in. Hopefully this is a sign of a good seasonf or us. UConn's next game is on the road at Merrimack on Saturday at 7:00 PM. The Huskies then return home October 27th for a rare Thursday night game vs. Atlantic Hockey rival Holy Cross.

New Blog Feature: UConn Awards, Plus the Awards from October 3rd-9th

So, after just posting about three Huskies that won awards, I've decided to add a new feature to this blog: Awards. They will be given out to one UConnplayer and one UConn team (both can be of either sex) every week, plus one at the end of every month to an exceptional player/team from that month. I will also name a possibly varying number of runners-up (for now I'm starting at three for the players and none for the teams), in order of virtue. I might also do an "All Fall Sports" team, and "All Winter Sports" and "All Spring Sports" teams when those seasons end. Plus maybe a an "2011-12 UConn First Team". We'll see. For now though, here are the award winners for the week of October 3rd-9th:

Player of the Week: Andre Blake, Men's Soccer GK:

The freshman phenom continued to wow fans this week, as Blake recorded his 9th straight shutout. The Jamaican has now gone 880 minutes without allowing a goal, and is two games short of tying the NCAA all-time record for shutouts in a row. During the week, the Huskies went 1-0-1, beating Manhattan 3-0 and drawing Notre Dame 0-0 on the road in 2OT.

Runners-Up (In Order of Rank)

1. Chloe Hunnable, F, Field Hockey, 3 goals and 1 assist


2. Brant Harris, FW, Men's Ice Hockey, 3 goals


3. Mattison Quayle, Women's Volleyball, 17 kills and 7 digs in narrow loss to USF

UConn Team of the Week: Men's Soccer

The Huskies started the week off on Wednesday night, October 4th, with an easy 3-0 win over Manhattan, also recording their 8th straight shutout and tying a school record. On Saturday afternoon, they played to a scoreless draw with Notre Dame in South Bend, breaking the shutout record and drawing within two of the NCAA record. Once again, the Huskies were voted #1 in the nation this week as well.