UConn Sports Roundup for Sunday, October 9th

Here is the summary of today's games. A larger preview of the week to come will be posted tonight or tomorrow.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies lost to Marquette 3-0 on the road, and were outshot 24-8. Not even close. The Huskies host Pitt and West Virginia next weekend to wrap up their home schedule.

Field Hockey: It looked like the #4 ranked Huskies might be victim of an upset, trailing unranked Virginia 1-0 late. But goals from Chloe Hunnable and Justine Angelini in the final minutes led the Huskies to a 2-1 victory. Next up, a week from today, Princeton will roll into Storrs to face the Huskies.

Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies tied with Clarkson, 3-3, and are now 0-2-2 on the season. The Huskies begin a two game series at home next Friday against Minnesota-Duluth. Sami Evelyn, Emily Snodgrass, and Jocelyn Slattery each had goals for the Huskies and Alexandra Garcia made 38 saves.

Husky Sports Roundup, September 25th 2011

Football: The Huskies defeated the Buffalo Bulls yesterday 17-3 to improve to 2-2 on the season. Johnny McEntee finally came through in a game, going 12-21 for 213 yards and throwing two touchdowns. Unfortunately, the game was not viewable on SNY due to the Mets' doubleheader, so nobody could watch it in the area. The Huskies are home next Saturday at 3:30 to face Western Michigan.

Men's Soccer: In front of a sold-out crowd of over 5,000 fans at Morrone Stadium, the Huskies defeated the #12 St. John's Red Storm 2-0. From what I could see on Huskies All-Access, that crowd was LOUD. It was overloading the crowd mike. Or the crowd mike could have been broken. I really don't know. But it never did that before. As for the game, it remained scoreless for the first 73 minutes, and many Husky fans feared the two rivals  would battle to a scoreless draw again. Allando Matheson scored at 73:17 though to put the Huskies up 1-0. With 37 seconds to go in the contest, Mamadou Doudou Diouf did what he's been doing all season, scoring a goal to put the Huskies up 2-0 and send the Red Storm home packing. I saw the crowd, and the game. That was an electrifying atmosphere. Let's hope the athletic department can get the same kind of excitement for some game next year when I'm on campus. If we host Notre Dame on a Saturday, they'd likely do it for that game I'd suspect. And we will host them. Waaaay to early to think about that though. Just wishful thinking by me. Additionally, expect the Huskies to be #1 when the polls come out, thanks to the Maryland draw to Seton Hall. (Queue WE'RE #1 Chant!) Our first chance to defend our number 1 ranking is Wednesday at 7:30 PM as we host in-state rival Yale. On Saturday, October 1 we have our biggest road test of the year, traveling to face Louisville. The Cardinals were ranked #3 in the country but lost to Notre Dame last night. The Cardinals don't want to start 0-2 in the Big East, so they will come out firing on all cylinders. Additionally, I could see the Yale game as a "trap game" for us. We'll be looking ahead to the Louisville game to defend our #1 ranking, and just assuming we're beating Yale to get to that point. And we've seen from many times what happens to our soccer team when they just assume they'll win the game. Like against Brown in the tournament. Or how we barely snuck by BU last week in our first game at #2. I'm not saying it will happen, but I wouldn't be too surprised if we wound up tying, or even losing, to Yale.

Field Hockey: The Huskies rolled to victory against Providence yesterday, 4-0. Chloe Hunnable scored a hat trick. The Huskies are 2-0 in Big East play and 7-1 overall. The polls come out today, but the #4 ranking will likely not change.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies host Cincinnati at 1:00 PM today. Video is available on Huskies All-Access. Next weekend is big for the Huskies. A nationally televised game at Notre Dame at 7:30 PM on Friday, September 30th will air on ESPNU. And on Sunday the 2nd, they'll be at DePaul at 2:00 PM.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies travel to Louisville to face the top-tier Cardinals this afternoon at 2:00 PM. Stream status on Louisville's website is unclear. Some places says it's there, others say it's not. Gametracker will be live at game time for sure though.

UConn Sports Roundup, September 23, 2011

Husky news and notes from today

Women's Soccer: The Huskies continue Big East play with a pair of games this weekend. First, they face the Louisville Cardinals tonight at 7:00 PM. Video will be available on Huskies All-Access, and WHUS will be doing the audio. Next, the Huskies will host the Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday at 1:00 PM. That game will also be on All-Access. The Cardinals are 1-0-1 in the Big East and 3-4-2 overall, tying them for second in the National Division. Cincy is 1-1-0 and 5-3-2 overall. The Huskies are also 1-1-0 in Big East play, plus 4-4-0 overall. They are one game behind West Virginia and Marquette in the American Division. On next Friday night (the 30th) the Huskies will head to South Bend to face Notre Dame in a matchup televised by ESPNU. That will be big.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies are in Cincinnati tonight at 7:30 PM before traveling to Louisville Sunday at 2:00 PM. This is the first two Big East games of the season. The Cincinnati game will be available on the Bearcats' website for viewing. Ditto for the Louisville game and the Cards' site.

Men's Soccer: The Huskies will face their archrival #12 ranked St. John's Red Storm on Saturday night in front of a predicted sell-out. Only 500 tickets remain so buy soon. And wear white since it's a White Out. For those unable to attend, tune into WHUS or Huskies All-Access. Also, it is Family Weekend. Any families reading this who think they might want to attend the game, buy your tickets NOW. Otherwise, you won't get them. I think if UConn wanted to encourage families to come over Family Weekend, they should let them know it's going to be a sell-out (since usually you can just get tickets there). The Family Weekend website doesn't even list ticket prices. This could be intentionally marketing towards fans as opposed to families. But if it's not, and they want families to go, they're doing a bad job. Any way, if you don't know if you want to go and are unwilling to buy seats in advance, there are two women's games this weekend, plus several other contests around campus (volleyball, ice hockey). Those are valuable options too. Consider them. They can be fun. They won't be as crowded as Morrone Stadium on Saturday night, but if you want to watch a UConn game, go for it. They're fun too. If you want to know why, read the rest of my blog. Update: As I wrote this, I was updated that the St. John's game is now SOLD OUT. Let's hope all the season ticket holders actually show up, or if they can't, give/sell their tickets to a friend. To any season ticket holder who can't go for whatever reason, please let someone else have your tickets. Give them to a friend, or sell them. But let Morrone Stadium be packed.

Women's Ice Hockey: The women's ice hockey team plays their first and only exhibition contest of the season against McGill tonight at 7 PM.  McGill is a Canadain University, and they will frequently compete against American schools in exhibition games. McGill may be the Harvard of Canada, but as Lisa Simpson says, "Anything that's the something of the something isn't really anything at all". I love that quote, by the way. But as for the game, it's just an exhibition. The real fun starts next weekend, with games on Friday, September 30th and Saturday, October 1st against RPI. You can't help but love RPI's nickname. They're the Engineers. Even Cal Tech came up with a vaguely fierce nickname. Beavers may not be fiercely competitive creatures, but at least they're not nerds. Then again, from what some of my friends in the School of Engineering tell me, it can get quite competitive there. Perhaps the RPI Engineering Majors? Still, I think the New College of Florida has the most unusual athletic nickname out there - the Empty Set. When the college was created, they put a pair of empty brackets  in the charter to choose a nickname at a little time. But eventually, they dropped all varsity  athletic teams. Now, the Empty Set has become a symbol of New College, and is also used by several club teams. In fact, their career services blog is called "Filling the Empty Set", perhaps as a reference to to getting a job as well.

Football: The Huskies travel to Buffalo, tomorrow at 6 PM. Hopefully the Huskies can get on the right path with a win over the lowly Bulls. But hopefully they should have beaten Vandy and Iowa State and that didn't happen. So I'm not counting on it. If we had a remotely competent QB, we could be amazing. We don't. At the same time, I'm not counting this season out yet. Last year, we started 1-2 including a loss at Temple. Everyone said we were done. Then, we started 3-4 after losses to Rutgers and Louisville. Everyone said we were done. Then came a Dave Teggart kick against West Virginia in OT and everything changed. Anything could happen.

Field Hockey: The #4 Huskies will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season as they travel to Rhode Island to face Providence. The Huskies are 1-0 in the Big East and 6-1 overall. The Friars are 3-6 overall and this will be their Big East opener. The Huskies will go on to host UMass on Wednesday at 7:00 PM and Louisville on Saturday the 1st of October at noon.

Note: You may have noticed this post contains more rambling and analysis about various subjects rather than just straight UConn facts. I kind of prefer this format, so I think I'll stick with it. It's always what I intended this blog to be, it just rarely worked out that way. For those who liked the abbreviated version, I will be posting a shorter (more cut-an-dry) version of these on the UConn fan message board The Boneyard. How much detail I go in there is subject to feeback (unlike the format of these posts which I will do as I like to do). You can view today's here. I won't always link, but I may sometimes. I'd recommend joining the site in general.

Delayed Weekend Roundup - UConn Update through September 20, 2011 (CORRECTED)

Sorry for the delay. Big news over the weekend with regards to the ACC. I'll put up something about that soon. For now, here's the latest.

MAJOR NEWS: There are multiple reports surfacing that UConn may join a super-ACC within the next few years. I will speculate on this soon.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies fell to 4-4-0 on the season after losing to Big East foe St. John's 1-0 in OT. The Huskies were dominated by the Red Storm, outshot 10-3 in Queens before Jen Leaverton added the game winning goal at the 91:23 minute. Next Friday, the Huskies will host Louisville at 7:00 PM before hosting Cincinnati on Sunday the 25th at 1:00 PM. 10 days remain until the nationally televised showdown at Notre Dame on ESPNU at 7:30 PM on September 30th.

Field Hockey: The Huskies suffered their first defeat of the year, losing 3-1 to the #8 ranked Boston College Eagles at home. Cara Silverman added a goal in the loss. The Huskies are in Providence on Saturday at 1:00 PM for a Big East road game. The national poll is due out today sometime, so stay tuned to see where we are.

Men's Soccer: Big game for the Huskies today as they head to Chestnut Hill at 7:00 PM to face Boston College. This is the big road trip of the year for Goal Patrol, so expect a lot of road Huskies fans. We are currently ranked #2 in the nation at 6-0-0. Webstreaming is available on bceagles.com and also a radio is available from WHUS. On a side note, don't expect me to comment on the crackdown on heckling at Morrone Stadium this year, because not being there, I don't know what's going on. But I have no problem with what's been working for the past forever. Family-friendly and squeaky clean are two different things. If I were going a game with a young child, I would make sure we didn't sit near the student section. I can understand why people would feel the same way. But on the rare occasions where someone does say something totally outlandish, we're usually pretty good about getting that individual to shut up or behave. And if we're not, then security can get involved, though in my whole time last year, I only recall that happening once. I don't know all the facts, but I do know what it was like last year. And I see no reason to change a working system. If any Goal Patrol members who are on campus wish to comment, go ahead.

In any case, after BC, the Huskies will host the St. John's Red Storm in the #6 rivalry in America Saturday at 7:30 PM. The school is expecting a sell-out for "White Out Morrone Night" and it should be a rocking.

Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies open up with an exhibition vs. McGill on Friday at 7:00 PM. McGill is supposedly the "Harvard of Canada". But, you know what Lisa Simpson always says. Ah well, it's only an exhibition game. The real fun starts a week later. The Huskies made the Hockey East first round of the tournament, before falling to Northeastern. They will look to improve and reach the NCAA Championship.

Note: A previous version of this post indicated that the men's soccer team's next game after tonight would be against Yale, followed by Louisville. However, in fact the St. John's game is before those two matchups. The error has been remedied. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Husky Sports Round-Up, September 14th

Note: This is my first since undergoing brain surgery so forgive any typos

Field Hockey: The Field Hockey team defeated Drexel 2-0 on Sunday afternoon. The Huskies are still ranked #4   in the country, behind UNC, Old Dominion, and Maryland. Next up we open Big East play traveling to Villanova o Saturday the 17th and will face Boston College the nxt day.

Men's  Soccer: Thew newly ranked #2 Huskies travel to the Boston University Terriers on Friday afternoon and the Boston College Eagles on Tuesady evening, both games at 7:00 PM on WHUS. The Eagles are a Top 25.

Women's Soccer: Next up, we open Big East play by hosting Syracuse tomorrow at 7PM on WHUS.

http://nfhca.org/

Roundup #2 for September 11th

This is the final roundup for today (or any day) before I head into New York City for my surgery. Unfortunately, I don't have all the links yet, but it's going to have to do.

Men's Soccer: UConn defeated SMU 1-0, thanks to a Max Wasserman goal off a free kick. The Huskies improve to 5-0 and could be ranked #2 next week thanks to a loss by #1 UNC. Next up, we travel to Boston University on Friday at 7:00 PM, and then to Boston College on Tuesday the 20th, also at 7:00 PM. The Eagles are ranked #8 in the country, but that ranking may drop after a 4-0 loss to Maryland on Friday night. The Goal Patrol will have a large contingent at both games, and the BC game is the official yearly trip.Both Boston games will be on WHUS.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies lost 2-1 to Harvard today in Cambridge. No further summary is available at this time. I may post something later if I have more info. Next up, we open Big East play when we host the Syracuse Orange on Thursday night at 7:00 at Morrone Stadium. That game will be on WHUS and Huskies All-Access.

UConn Sports Roundup, September 11th, 2011

Husky Sports Roundup for today, September 11th, 2011

Football: UConn lost disappointingly to Vanderbilt, 24-21. The Huskies are now 1-1 on the season. We had a defensive touchdown and a special teams touchdown, plus two field goals and a 2-point conversion. However, we have not had an offensive touchdown against an FBS team since we played Cincinnati on November 27th, 2010 and Jordan Todman ran it in with 3:49 left. That's over 12 quarters without one. They say defense and special teams wins games, but you have to have at least a mediocre offense. We don't. Johnny McEntee threw three interceptions, and they cost us.

Women's Volleyball: UConn split their two games in New Hampshire yesterday. They lost to Indiana State in straight sets, but then beat the host Wildcats 25-21, 25-20, 25-11. Holly Strauss-O'Brien got her 100th win. The Huskies are 6-4 on the season And will be in Blacksburgh, Va next weekend for the Hokie Classic, where they will face Chatanooga, Virginia, and host Virginia Tech.

Field Hockey: The #4 Huskies defeated the Albany Great Danes 1-0 thanks to a goal by Marie Elena Bolles. The Huskies are 4-0 on the season, and will host Drexel today at 2:00 PM.

Men's Soccer: The #3 ranked men will face SMU in the second game of the Hurricane Classic at Tulsa today at 12:00 PM. The game will be on WHUS.org and WHUS FM 91.7.

Women's Soccer: Fresh off an upset win against Boston University, the Huskies will travel to Cambridge to face the Harvard Crimson today at 1:00.

Miscellaneous Personal News: I will be having surgery tomorrow. I will therefore not be blog posting for a little while.

UConn Sports Roundup, September 3, 2011 (UPDATED 9/4/11, 8:54 AM)

Football: In the premier UConn game of the day, the UConn football team defeated the Fordham Rams, 35-3. You can also read the official release here. As for the game, this was a blowout, and not unexpected. Michael Nebrich, Scotty McCummings, and Johnny McEntee all saw playing time. On a side note, does anyone else think Johnny McEntee sounds like he should be someone in a comic book? But I digress. Another surprise was Lyle McCombs starting at running back over DJ Shoemate. No word yet on whether that will be permanent, but given his good showing (141 yards and 4 TD's) I would expect Coach Pasqualoni to start him at Vandy next week. It's a good start to the season, but we'll have to beat better teams to make a difference.

Women's Volleyball: In their second game of the Toyota UConn Classic, the Huskies swept Holy Cross 3-0. Next up is Binghamton tonight at 7:30 to wrap up the tournament. Read more about the win over the Crusaders here. The Huskies are 3-2 on the season. Update 9/4/11 8:54 AM: The Huskies swept the Bearcats last night 3-0. Senior Jordan Kirk was named the tournament MVP, and was joined on the All-Tournament team by fellow Huskies Mattison Quayle and Kelsey Manning. The Huskies are now 4-2 on the season. Next up, the Huskies host Sacred Heart on September 6th at 7:30 PM. You can watch that game on Huskies All-Access.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies got a big win against #15/17 Wake Forest last night in Winston-Salem. Thanks to a goal by Danielle Schulman, and a winner by Devin Prendergast at 83:46, the Huskies beat the previously-undefeated Demon Deacons 2-1 and are now 2-1-0. Next up is Virginia Tech on Sunday, also in Winston-Salem. That game is at 11:30 AM and will be on WHUS 91.7 FM/WHUS.org.

Men's Soccer: As previously mentioned, the Huskies play a huge game vs. California tomorrow at 4:30 PM. The Golden Bears are #7 in the country. That game will be on WHUS.org/WHUS 91.7 FM and All-Access.

Field Hockey:  Another major game for the Huskies tomorrow, as they travel to Penn State to face the #8 Nittany Lions. With a win, the Huskies would likely move up to #2 nationally thanks to losses by #1 Maryland and #3 Virginia. #2 UNC beat #5 Syracuse, so the Huskies will likely be #2 to the Tar Heels when the rankings come out Monday if they pull off the win.

Softball: The 2012 softball schedule is up on the website. Find it here. I will post in more detail about it when a press release is published.

Baseball: We can now begin to fill in bits and pieces of the 2012 schedule. St. John's released their Big East schedule. The Huskies will travel to Kaiser Stadium in Queens April 13-15. That should be a big series, as always. Also, Sacred Heart's website shows them hosting the Huskies on March 13 at a time to be determined. Let's see if we can fill in more pieces before UConn releases their full schedule. That has typically been anywhere from mid-October to mid-December, so let's wait and see.

Miscellaneous: UConn started a new Husky blog today, called "UConn Believe It". You can find it at UConnHuskies.com/blog.  They also invite you to comment on today's football game here. I hope that the blog will give recognition to the Husky sports besides basketball and football. Both posts were about today's football game, but let's hope they post about other sports. If so, I give them a lot of credit. If not, that's what I do. Keep reading here.

Husky Sports Roundup, August 30th, 2011 (UPDATED 3:39 PM)

Husky Sports Roundup for today, August 30th, 2011. These will be posted on a near-daily basis, though they will cease for a few days when I have a medical surgery. As you all know, I have been having medical issues requiring me to take leave from UConn for a semester. If you want to know more, email me by clicking on that link. Do not use the contact link on this site because my school email may soon be temporarily disabled. Anyway, here's the update.

Women's Soccer: The game Friday at Wake Forest has been moved to 6:00 PM. We will still take on Virginia Tech on Sunday at 11:30 AM. Both games can be heard on WHUS.org and locally on 91.7  FM. Also, Riley Houle was named SoccerSavings.com New England Women's College Soccer Player of the Week. Houle scored her first career goal August 25th vs. Colgate.

Field Hockey: Justine Angelini was named Big East offensive player of the Week. She scored three goals and an assist in the 7-1 win vs. Hofstra. The award was given prior to yesterday's game vs. #20 Stanford.

Men's Soccer: UConn students interested in attending this Thursday's game vs. Michigan State at 7:30 PM should stop by the red tent outside the Co-op to pick up their free tickets. The Spartans are #19 in the country. Update 3:39 PM: The national polls came out today. UConn moved up three spots in the NSCAA poll from #8 to #5 and one spot in the Soccer America poll to #4. Michigan State dropped out of both polls, although the California Golden Bears, who we host Sunday night, are ranked #7 and #12 in NSCAA and Soccer America, respectively.

That's it for now. No games tonight or tomorrow. Football (vs. Fordham, ESPN3.com at 7:30 PM) and Men's Soccer (vs. Michigan State, WHUS.org/91.7 FM/Huskies All Access, 7:30 PM) are in action on Thursday.

I may post tomorrow if events warrant, but I will post on Thursday for sure. Go Huskies!

Top 10 Games I Attended in 2010-11 #1: Football vs. West Virginia, October 29th, 2010

Sorry for the delay in posting this. I've been having some personal issues. But here it is, right now. By the way, for those of you wondering why the Big East and NCAA Tournaments aren't on here, the answer is simple - I wasn't at those games. Also, look at the bottom for an in-depth analysis of this list.

What: Football vs. West Virginia (original post)

When: October 29, 2010

Where: Rentschler Field

Result: Win 16-13, OT

What a game! This completely turned our season around. We came back from being down 10-0 just before halftime (at which point Teggart made a field goal) to win  16-13 in overtime. It wasn't as much due to our good play as because West Virginia kept fumbling, but I'll take it. It was the first time we beat them, ever. And after that, it launched a five game win streak that took us to our first BCS game.

This was probably the most exciting football game I've ever watched. It didn't seem that way for most of the first half though, when we couldn't score. Finally, Dave Teggart made that field goal just before the half to make it 10-3. It JUST made it inside the crossbar. I've read The Garden of Forking Paths and I wonder how we would have been different if that kick had gone wide. We wouldn't have the momentum heading into the second half, and in all likelihood, we wouldn't win the game. We wouldn't take momentum into the Pitt game and win, and could very well go 3-9. Maryland wouldn't hire Randy Edsall, but of course, he could get fired. And Pasqualoni might not have taken the job. Who knows? And if years down the road, we are an elite football program, this could have been the crucial moment in that. We will just have to see.

I'll probably post sporadically until the beginning of next season, which is just over a month away. Until then, Go Huskies!

Analysis:

Let's review the Top 10 first:

10. Men's Soccer vs. Boston University, August 28 (first game I attended)

9. Baseball vs. Holy Cross, March 22 (first baseball game, 16-inning contest)

8. Field Hockey Big East Semifinal vs. Louisville, November 6

7. Men's Soccer Big East First Round vs. DePaul, November 5

6. Men's Basketball vs. Stony Brook, November 12 (first regular-season game I attended)

5. Men's Ice Hockey vs. Sacred Heart @ Rentschler Field, February 13 (outdoor game as part of Whalers Hockey Fest)

4. Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's, April 2 (possible turning point of our season)

3. Men's Basketball vs. Villanova, January 17 (first game back from winter break, Kemba Walker hits game winning shot with 1 second left)

2. Women's Basketball vs. Baylor, November 16

1. Football vs. West Virginia, October 29 (see above)

 

Note that two of these were the first game I attended in a sport (including one which was the first game I attended in any sport) and a third was the first regular season game I attended in that sport (I had attended an exhibition game vs. American International). A fourth was the first game I attended after Winter Break, and it had been over a month since I'd attended one. Three more could be classified as "special" games - two Big East Tournament games and Whalers Hockey Fest. Two more are turning point games - West Virginia football and St. John's baseball. And the women's hoops game vs. Baylor was the first major contest I'd attended in women's basketball, after we clobbered Franklin Pierce and Holy Cross.

Well, that's all for now. Go Huskies!

Top 10 Games of 2010-11 #3: Men's Basketball vs. Villanova, 1/17/11

Note: I was supposed to post this back in July, when I was doing my Top 10 games countdown. Unfortunately, it got stuck in my drafts and I never got around to posting it. So here it is, in its entirety, as it was written then, with a few notations.

My apologies for not posting this yesterday. This is game #3 on the Top 10 games I attended in 2010-11 list.

What: Men's Basketball vs. Villanova (original link)

When: Monday, January 17, 2011, 3:30 PM

Where: Gampel Pavillion, Storrs, CT

Result: Win 61-59

This was my first game of the Spring 2011 Semester. It was also Martin Luther King Day. Since 2002, I had always gone to a Knicks game with my family on MLK Day. This year, however, because the semester (should have) started the next day, I was back at UConn attending this game. It was nice - other than the soccer exhibition vs. Boston University over WOW Weekend, it was the only time I got to go to a game without worrying about schoolwork.

As for the game itself, it was close all along. Villanova tied it with 22 seconds to go and Kemba Walker hit a game winning shot with a second left to make it 61-59. And as for classes the next day, they were cancelled due to snow. They would be cancelled several more times over the next couple weeks. But this was the first game I attended Spring Semester.

Game #2 will likely be posted this Sunday as I will be in New Jersey on Monday for a wedding (my cousin ironically is getting married on Independence Day). Game #1 will be revealed July 11, after which I will likely not be reposting until August when I go back to school. (So much for that. If only...)

On a side note, the men's ice hockey schedule was released today. A post on that is upcoming. (Find that here)

Women's Ice Hockey Schedule Released!

The 2011-12 Women's Ice Hockey schedule was released today. You can find the press release here or the full schedule here. Here is a list of the home games for the Huskies, along with some notes below them.

Friday, September 23, 2011: vs. McGill (exh), 7:00 PM
Friday, September 30, 2011: vs. RPI, 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 1, 2011: vs. RPI, 3:00 PM
Friday, October 14, 2011: vs. Minnesota-Duluth, 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 15, 2011: vs. Minnesota-Duluth, 4:00 PM
Friday, October 21, 2011: vs. Maine, 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 22, 2011: vs. Maine, 2:00 PM
Saturday, November 5, 2011: vs. Northeastern, 4:00 PM
Saturday, November 12, 2011: vs. Providence, 1:00 PM
Sunday, November 20, 2011: vs. Vermont, 2:00 PM
Friday, November 25, 2011: Nutmeg Classic vs. Quinnipiac, 4:00 PM
Saturday, November 26, 2011: Nutmeg Classic vs. Robert Morris or Yale, time TBD
Tuesday, January 3, 2012: vs. Harvard, 7:00 PM
Saturday, January 7, 2012: vs. Brown, 1:00 PM
Tuesday, January 10, 2012: vs . Union NY, 7:00 PM
Sunday, January 22, 2012: vs. Boston College, 2:00 PM
Sunday, January 29, 2012: vs. Providence, 2:00 PM
Sunday, February 5, 2012: vs. New Hampshire, 2:00 PM
Saturday, February 11, 2012: vs. Boston College, 1:00 PM
Saturday, February 18, 2012: vs. Boston University, 2:00 PM

 

Notes:

• As mentioned before, if the homecoming football game vs. USF on October 15 is at noon, I could attend three UConn games that day. In addition to football, there will be the MN-Duluth game and soccer vs. Pittsburgh at 7:30


• It was reported earlier that women's basketball will once again be hosting the Worldvision Challenge over Thanksgiving Weekend. Times are still TBD but if they were what they were last year, I probably won't attend the Nutmeg Classic.


• Harvard, Brown, and Union are all over Winter Break, so I obviously won't be at those games.


• RPI on October 1 will likely conflict with the football game vs. Western Michigan, as if the game starts at noon, its end will conflict with the hockey beginning, if it starts at 3:30 the whole thing will conflict, and if it's a night game I would need to leave hockey early to get to Rentschler.


• Maine on October 22nd is the same day as men's soccer vs. Georgetown, but the latter is at 7:30 PM, so no issue.

Hopefully men's ice hockey is announced soon. Until then, Go Huskies!

Top 10 Games I Attended 2010-11 #4: Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's

Sorry for not posting this yesterday. Anyway, this is game #4 on my Top 10 games I attended of 2010-11. Game #3 will be posted next Monday. Game #2 should be posted the Monday after that, but it's Independence Day and I'm going to my cousin's wedding in New Jersey, so it might not be up until Tuesday. Or, I might post it on Sunday, July 3rd. So stay tuned.

What: Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's (original post)

When: Game 1 - Saturday, April 2, 2011, 12:00 PM. Game 2 - Same day, roughly 2:50 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Game 1 - win 9-1 Game 2- Win 6-5

I had left early or missed entirely all the games of the series vs. Pittsburgh. Mainly this was due to the miserable weather for those games. These had slightly better weather but not by much. The Friday game was rained out and made up as a doubleheader that Saturday. And it was really the first time the K-9 Unit got that large a crowd. Despite the periodical snow squalls, we all had a good time watching 18 innings worth of baseball.

The first game was relatively uneventful, aside from an apparent threat by Red Storm pitcher Kyle Hanson to several members of the K-9 Unit. I wasn't one of them, but I'm told he said something to the effect of "I'm going to [expletive] beat the [expletive] out of you", presumably due to all the heckling we gave him. And he's Tommy Hanson's brother. Yes, that Tommy Hanson, the one who struggled with the Boston Red Sox and is now out of baseball. Kyle is supposedly better but it didn't show in Game 1 as we won 9-1.

Now, for those of you who don't know, St. John's is probably the closest thing we have to a rival in baseball. We are close geographically, and  are by far the Top two teams in the Northeastern United States. Within the Big East, Providence doesn't play baseball, Seton Hall is not typically that good but made a good run in the conference tournament, and Villanova, Rutgers, and Georgetown are perennial Big East cellar dwellers. So these were big games.

As for game two, it was a lot better. It was close throughout, and with the score tied 5-5 with two out in the bottom of the ninth and Tim Martin on first, LJ Mazilli hit what appeared to be a routine, inning-ending flyball to centerfield. But Kyle Richardson DROPPED it and Martin came all the way around from first to score the winning run. And that could, looking back on it, have been the turning point of our season. We'd beaten Pittsburgh two out of three in the first Big East series, but Pitt is a middle-of-the-pack Big East team. We had made the NCAA Tournament the year before and probably should have swept them at home. But we were struggling. We beat St. John's in game 1, which was good, but it's interesting to think about how our season might have turned out if Richardson had caught that fly ball and the Red Storm had won in extra innings. Would we have merely finished the season with one more loss? Or would we have never gone on that winning streak, and finished the season in the middle of the conference (or worse)? Who knows. Nobody could have known at the time what would happen later though.

Anyway, that's that for this game. Game 3 will be posted next Monday. Perhaps one or both ice hockey teams will release their schedule(s) for next year before then, in which case I will have a post. Until then, Go Huskies!

Men's Soccer Schedule Released

The UConn Huskies 2011 Men's Soccer Schedule was released today. With this, all fall sports which I follow have released their schedule. Men's and women's ice hockey generally release their schedules around this time too since the season starts in early October but they have not yet. In any case, you can view the full release here or the full schedule here. Below, please find the home schedule and some notes.

Sunday, August 14: exh. vs NJIT, 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 20: exhibition vs. Stony Brook, 7:30 PM
Saturday, August 27: vs. St. Francis (NY), 7:30 PM
Thursday, September 1: vs. Michigan State, 7:30 PM
Sunday, September 4: vs. California, 7:30 PM
Saturday, September 24: vs. St. John's, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, September 27: vs. Yale, 7:30 PM
Tuesday, October 4: vs. Manhattan, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, October 12: vs. Providence, 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 15: vs. Pittsburgh, 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 22: vs. Georgetown, 7:30 PM
Wednesday, October 26: vs. Marquette, 7:30 PM

Notes:

• I do not know yet if Goal Patrol will be planning a trip to another away game. It will be trickier this year because there is not an away game which is that close to Storrs and on a weekend. Last year's trip to St. John's was, according to google maps, two hours and 40 minutes. To get to Boston for the game against Boston University would be about an hour shorter, but that game is on a Friday night (September 16) not a Saturday, and is also the night of a nationally televised football game. Weekend road games against Louisville and Notre Dame the first two Saturdays in October are almost certainly not feasible. And our only other road game on a Saturday is at Seton Hall on October 29. Google Maps says it is roughly three hours from Storrs to South Orange (two hours and 59 minutes to be exact) which isn't much longer than the St. John's game. So that may be the most likely candidate. We'll see.


• With Women's Ice Hockey vs. Minnesota-Duluth also scheduled for October 15th (see this post) as well as a football game vs. USF with time TBD, this could be a three-game day thus being the first time I ever attended three UConn games in one day.


• The game against Michigan State is the same day as the football opener vs. Fordham. I unfortunately have a 9:00 AM class on Fridays so I don't particularly want to just get back to campus at midnight. And if the football game starts at 8 PM it won't end until after 11:00. If it starts at 7 PM I might attend that instead of soccer, although since football will likely be a blowout, I may not. Ideally I'd like to attend football, but I also want to get up for class the next day. I'll decide that later.

Stay posted for more information. Also, game #4 in my Top 10 games of 2010-11 will be posted on Monday.

More Known UConn Games

More known UConn games from sports which haven't been announced yet, compiled through various sources. At this point, rather than list them chronologically or by sport, I am listing them in the order I find them and providing links to where I find them.

Friday, October 14: Men's Ice Hockey at Army, 7:05 PM
Saturday, October 29: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Army, 7:05 PM
Thursday, December 29: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Army, TBD (UConn Classic)
Friday, December 30: Men's Ice Hockey vs. RPI or UMass Lowell, TBD  (UConn Classic)
Citation for all of the above is this and this.

Thursday, December 22: Men's Basktball vs. Fairfield, TBD, "most likely" at XL Center (citation)

No more for now. If you find anything, email me.

Top 10 Games of 2011 Countdown Game #5: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Sacred Heart @ Rentschler Field

What: Men's Ice Hockey vs. Sacred Heart (Whalers Hockey Fest) (original post)

Where: Rentschler Field

When: Sunday, February 13, 1:00 PM

Result: Win 3-1

What a day. This was an absolutely amazing game. Even though there were apparently only about 1,000 fans here, it was still amazing. I had a seat at center ice/midfield which would probably have cost several thousand dollars for a football game. And there's something marvelous about outdoor hockey to begin with.

Granted, this wasn't quite the success of the "Big Chill at the Big House" but for a hockey program like the Huskies and Pioneers, it was nice. And I kind of like the idea of using Rentschler for UConn sports other than football. There were a couple men's lacrosse games there earlier this year, but since we don't have a men's lacrosse team, we weren't involved. And it's hosted FIFA events before so why not have the soccer team play a game there and try to sell the place out? Morrone is frequently sold out, so perhaps try the Rentsch.

Looking ahead to next year, we will be playing all our games indoors at the Mark Edward Frietas Ice Forum (or perhaps at XL - the impromptu experiment last year due to snow on FIF's roof failed miserably, but I could see it working if they planned it better). But it was still nice to watch the hockey game outdoors. And it also happened to be the ONLY time I was outdoors for a sporting event in between the Big East field hockey final  on November 7 and the baseball home opener on March 22. So it was nice to get ouside.

Game 4 will be posted on Monday as we get back to our regular schedule. Until then, Go Huskies!

More Known UConn Games

Here are more known UConn games from the sports that haven't been announced, built using other teams' schedules (all games that are known are listed, but I am making more of an effort to find home than away games so road contests may not be listed even if known). As always, if you discover something, email me at gregory.koch@uconn.edu

Women's Ice Hockey:

Friday, October 14: vs. MN-Duluth, 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 15: vs. MN-Duluth, 4:00 PM
Saturday, November 12: vs. Providence, 1:00 PM
Friday, November 25: Nutmeg Classic Tourney vs. Quinnipiac, 4:00 PM
Saturday, November 26: Nutmeg Classic Final/3rd Place Game vs. Yale or Robert Morris, TBD
Saturday, January 28: @ Providence, 2:00 PM
Saturday, January 29: vs. Providence, 2:00 PM

Men's Soccer:

Saturday, August 27: vs. St. Francis, 7:30 PM (this was listed on the Husky WOW Website. I do not know if it is St. Francis of NY or St. Francis of PA, but I am guessing NY since we played them last year too)

Top 10 Games Countdown #6: Men's Basketball vs. Stony Brook, November 12, 2010

Note: I neglected to post this entry this past week on Monday as I should have. Therefore, it will be posted now, game #5, which should have been posted today, will be posted on FRIDAY, and I will resume the normal schedule next Monday with game #4.

What: Men's Basketball vs Stony Brook

When: Friday, November 12, 2010 (original post)

Where: Gampel Pavillion

Result: Win 79-52

This was my first UConn basketball game that actually counted. I had been to a men's and women's  exhibition game, and I had been at Gampel several times for women's volleyball, but this was something else entirely. The game was nearly sold out, it was opening night, and the student section was crazy.

This was not a remarkable game in itself. UConn won in a blowout, as would be expected against a lesser opponent like the Seawolves. However, as has been a theme throughout this countdown, the fact that it was the FIRST basketball game I attended (or at least the first that meant anything) was enough to get it this high on the list. I would attend many more basketball games throughout the season, both at Gampel and XL Center, but this was one of the most memorable contests I have seen merely because it was the first. As a spoiler (roll over to highlight it and see it if you want to, otherwise don't do it) there is only one other men's game on this list as well as one women's game, and they were both much more exciting in terms of on-the court action than this one was.

In any case, we all remember what came first. I remember far more about this game than I do about the second men's game I attended, November 30 against New Hampshire (which apparently I didn't make a blog post about here, although I know I was at that game and the Game Log agrees with me). So, this game will always be memorable for me, even if it was a blowout.

Top 10 Games of 2010-11 Countdown Game 7: Men's Soccer Big East Tournament First Round vs. DePaul

What: Men's Soccer Big East Tournament First Round vs. DePaul (original post)

When: Friday, November 5, 2010, 7:30 PM

Where: Joseph J. Morrone Stadium

Result: UConn wins 2-0

This was my first Big East postseason contest of any kind. Of course, the second would be just a day later but still, first is always memorable (which as a hint, will prove to be a theme throughout this countdown). Anyway, it was a great night for soccer although we didn't know if the game would be played or not until a few hours earlier. Heavy rains had postponed the game already, and we didn't know if the field would be suitable for play. I'm glad Goal Patrol didn't have to dredge the field like we shoveled it before an NCAA Tournament match a few years ago.

But anyway, the game itself was awesome. UConn won easily, 2-0, and I had a great time making fun of the DePaul goalkeeper. Even though it meant I had no voice for the Field Hockey tournament that weekend. Oh well. It was worth it. And then some old guy who was there with his high school kids assumed I was drunk (I hadn't even been drinking) and then assumed that I had consumed ALCOHOL from the cup of hot chocolate WHICH WASN'T EVEN MINE and quite clearly had had hot chocolate in it. Well, that was awkward. But hopefully our soccer team can have a better tournament result next year, and more hopefully, I can watch the NCAA Tournament game. I was at home for the contest vs. Brown this year, and couldn't even watch the webstream because it was down due to a power failure. We'll see.  For now, Go Huskies, and stay tuned next Monday for game number 6.

More Known UConn Games

The Hartford Hawks volleyball team recently released their schedule for next year, and it includes an October 4 contest at Storrs against the UConn Huskies. Time is still TBD. You can view other games which are known but have not been announced by UConn at this blog post and also view my post regarding our released Field Hockey schedule here. Also, the Hartford Courant reported the following known games for UConn women's basketball (source)

Thursday, November 3: vs. Assumption (exh)
Wednesday, November 9: vs. Pace (exh)
Sunday, November 13:v s. Holy Cross
Tuesday, November 15: vs. Pacific
Monday, November 21: vs. Stanford
Friday-Sunday November 25-27: Worldvision Challenge featuring UConn, Buffalo, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Dayton, not necessarily in that order
Wednesday, November 30: vs. Towson
Tuesday, December 6: vs. Texas A&M
Sunday, December 18: at Baylor
Wednesday, December 21: at College of Charleston
Wednesday or Thursday, December 28 or 29: vs. Fairfield
Monday, January 16: vs. UNC
MondAY, January 30: at Duke
Monday, February 13: at Oklahoma

all sites (as in Gampel or XL, not home or away) and times are TBD, except Texas A&M, which KBTX.com reports will be at Gampel Pavilion at 7:00 PM.

Furthermore, our men's basketball team will host Arkansas in the Big East/SEC Challenge on Saturday, December 3, site and time TBD.

Just some brief analysis: I'm disappointed that basketball is playing Stanford over Thanksgiving Break so I probably won't be able to attend. But Texas A&M should be fun. As should the three-day funfest that is the Worldvision Challenge. Hopefully I can get back to campus on Friday again.

I'll keep you posted on any new developments.