UConn Sports Roundup, October 23rd 2011

Farewell Tony Cascio. You will be missed.
Other seniors, good bye to you too.

Men's Soccer: On Senior Night, the #1 Huskies took on the Georegtown Hoyas in a crucial Big East Blue Division showdown. However, in spite of outshooting GU 18-8, UConn managed only a scoreless draw. Sure, we had plenty of opportunities.  A lot of shots seemed to sail just wide or just high. We also nearly allowed a last-second goal (literally) but it sailed just over the bar as time expired.  Bad luck for us tonight. Let's hope this two-game winless streak doesn't become a trend. The Huskies are still in second place in Blue Division with 14 points and are one point ahead of Notre Dame and Providence for the last bye. Marquette has 18. The Huskies will face the Golden Eagles Wednesday at 7:30 PM. That game is on WHUS and All-Access.

Laura Diclemente dashed
UConn's hopes and dreams
today.

Women's Soccer: A heartbreaking finish to the season for the Huskies. Jessica Shufelt gave the Huskies a 1-0  edge for much of this contest, but ultimately, they surrendered two goals in the final nine minutes to lose 2-1. Needing only a draw to advance to the Big East Tournament, it looked like the Huskies would get it done, But Laura Diclemente scored at 80:59 to tie it, and again with 38 seconds left to win it. Once again, bad luck for us tonight.

Women's Ice Hockey: Finally, some good news! UConn defeated Maine yesterday, 3-0. Sami Evelyn, Taylor Gross, and Christine Bauer all netted goals for the Huskies. Nicole Paniccia started in goal after relieving Alexandra Garcia yesterday. She made 32 saves and did not allow a goal. I would not be too surprised if she started from here on out. Next up, the Huskies will be in Syracuse for two non-Conference games Friday and Saturday. Friday will be at 7:00 PM and Saturday at 4:00 PM. This was our first win of the year, improving us to 1-5-2, and 1-1-0 in Hockey East.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies fell 5-0 to Merrimack in a non-conference game. For the first 19 minutes, it looked like it would be close as it was 0-0. But Merrimack scored a goal and kept them coming. But they're the #12 team in the nation so this was hardly unexpected.

Syracuse will be looking to celebrate again. The Huskies
want to stop them. Tune in today at Noon and see
who wins the Big East regular season title. 

Field Hockey: The day has finally arrived. UConn vs. Syracuse. Winner wins the Big East regular season title. But it looks like Louisville is going to get the #4 seed, thus making it less illustrious than we first thought. Of course, Syracuse gets to host the tourney either way, so we'll be looking for revenge from last year when they came to us. The winner of the Big East Tournament will also likely host an NCAA Regional. If they're the #1 seed in the Big East Tournament as well, they almost certainly will. So let's hope we win this game. It will be on All-Access at noon. Next weekend, we head to Rutgers on Friday at 3:00 to wrap up Big East play, then face Princeton Sunday, October 30th at 2:00 PM to wrap up the regular season.

Women's Volleyball: Huskies are in Georgetown today. Video is available on the Hoyas' website. Next up, the Huskies will host Notre Dame and DePaul on Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM, respectively.

UConn Sports Update, October 21st

Let's take a look ahead to the weekend. The football team is off, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything going on.

The Huskies will host the Maine Black
Bears tonight and tomorrow.
(Goblackbears.com)

Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies open up their Hockey East schedule at home tonight as they face the Maine Black Bears. The Huskies are 0-4-2 while the Black Bears are 4-2-0 so this should be a very tough matchup. Face-off is at 7:00 PM on WHUS and Huskies All-Access. The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 2:00 PM, also on All-Access.

Women's Volleyball: Fresh of their first conference win of the season, the Huskies will go on the road tonight and Sunday. Tonight at 7:00, they travel to Villanova, where they face the 13-8 (5-2 Big East) Wildcats. Video is available on 'Nova's website. Then, on Sunday afternoon, they'll be in Georgetown for a 2:00 PM contest. The Hoyas are 2-5 in Big East and 10-10 overall. Video for that is on the Georgetown website.

Senior Midfielder Tony
Cascio will be honored on
Saturday night as a fitting
end to a great career as a
Husky. (New England Soccer
News)

Men's Soccer: It's Senior Night at Morrone Stadium tomorrow evening at 7:30. The Huskies will host the Georgetown Hoyas in a crucial Big East Blue Division Showdown. Also, the game has SOLD OUT! Lionel Brown, Nickardo Blake, and Tony Cascio will be honored before the game. UConn suffered its first loss of the season on Tuesday night to West Virginia and will look to bounce back. Currently, the Huskies are two points back of Marquette at the top of the Big East Blue Division, and one point ahead of the Hoyas and Mountaineers. This will be a critical stretch run, ending with the game vs. Marquette on Wednesday night (the Huskies wrap-up their season on Saturday the 29th at Seton Hall, but the Pirates are in last place in the Blue Division and have not won a conference game yet, so that should be an easy win). In any case, tomorrow's game will be on WHUS as well as on All-Access.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies will wrap up their season on Saturday as they head to Providence for a 1:00 PM contest on WHUS. Those in Rhode Island can watch this game on Cox Sports, but everyone else will have to listen to audio or use GameTracker. With a win or tie, the Huskies will clinch a spot in the Big East Tournament,  and will play in an Opening Round match on Thursday afternoon. If they win today, that match will definitely be at home. With a tie, St. John's can overtake them on the tiebreak if they beat Syracuse, and the Huskies will go on the road. Should the Huskies lose, they would still make the Tournament if St. John's doesn't beat the Orange, but once again, that would be a road game. The Red Storm play at 7:00 PM tonight against Syracuse. You can watch that game on the Red Storm website. This means that come tomorrow, we will know exactly what we need to do to get a home game in the Tournament, and to get a game at all.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Men's Ice Hockey team heads to Merrimack tomorrow at 7:00 PM. I have yet to find information on coverage of that game, so check back when it ends.

Field Hockey: The field hockey team hosts Syracuse Sunday at noon in a huge Big East contest. The winner, of course, will clinch the Big East regular season title, so this is likely a preview of the Championship Game, which will be in Syracuse on November 6th. But for all we said about avoiding Louisville, it may not even apply or matter. The Cardinals have lost five of six and are in fourth place in the conference, tied with Rutgers for the last Tournament spot. The Cards do own the tiebreak, however and their remaining opponent is Providence while the Scarlet Knights have to host us a week from today. We will wrap up the regular season a week from Sunday at Princeton, before heading up to the Big East Championship in Syracuse Friday-Sunday.

Women's Basketball: For the first time since 2005, the Huskies are not pre-season favorites to win the Big East. Notre Dame edged the Huskies in the poll by a mere three points, 219-216, with 9-7 on first place votes. The Huskies' first game is November 13th vs. Holy Cross.