Game 3-9-108

What: Men's soccer vs. Dartmouth

When: Friday, August 31, 7:00 PM

Where: Morrone Stadium

Result: Win 2-1 (OT)

The Big Green players warm up
before the match

I was worried heading into this contest that this would be a "trap" game for the Huskies as we looked ahead to the nationally televised matchup vs. Washington on Friday. After all, that almost happened vs. Yale and Boston University last year. And alas, it almost happened again here.

We were up 1-0 late, but gave up a goal with 6 seconds left to tie it at 1. Thankfully, Mamadou scored a goal in overtime for a 2-1 victory. It was a scare, but we won.

A win is a win, after all. But if we play like this against Washington, we're going to lose. I'll take this result, but we need to pick up our play now that our schedule is getting tough. 

Above, see a picture of Dartmouth warming up. If you look closely, you'll see the scoreboard gives their name as "Green".

Game 3-8-107: Men's Soccer vs. St. Francis

What: Men's Soccer vs. St. Francis

When: Saturday, August 25, 2012, 7:00 PM

Where: Morrone Stadium

Result: Win 1-0

This was the first regular season game of the year for men's soccer, so it was also the first Goal Patrol meeting. It was crowded, probably more crowded than it will be at any game the rest of the season. We probably had several hundred students, at least, at the Goal Patrol meeting. Then it was on to Morrone Stadium.

St. Francis warmups - why
the red?

When we arrived, St. Francis was warming up. They were wearing red uniforms. (See picture on left) This confused me because I distinctly recalled St. Francis wearing blue when we played them before. Several thoughts occurred to me - was I wrong? Had they changed their uniforms? Were we playing the other St. Francis? But it turns out, those were just their warm ups. Strange. They changed into blue uniforms for the actual game, per their school colors. But the red warmups looked like real uniforms. They had numbers only on the front, while the real uniforms had numbers only on the back, but they could easily have been interchanged. Is one the alternate away uniform or something, and they use it as warmups when they're not wearing it? I don't know. Anyway, you can view a photo of the blue game uniforms on this page as well.

St. Francis huddling in blue uniforms
before the game. 

Then the game started. We scored our only goal on a Mamadou Doudou Diouf penalty kick, but frankly it could have been a lot more of a blowout. We had almost 20 shots, and about a dozen chances that could easily have led to goals. But we only scored one. But a win is a win. We are ranked #1 in one poll now and #4 in the other. With #2 UCLA losing to St. Francis, we could be ranked #3 next week in that poll. Next up for men's soccer is Dartmouth next Friday. There are a women's soccer game and a field hockey game tomorrow at 1:00 PM. I may go to one, and I probably will. But there's other events going on then that aren't sports that I may attend instead. I don't know yet. I'll update tomorrow.

Regardless, I will be at the men's soccer vs. Dartmouth Friday night. But I can't attend football vs. UMass Thursday night, which is disappointing. I get out of class at 6:15, but that doesn't leave me time to catch the bus, the last one leaves at 6:00. That's all for now.

Game 3-4-103: Men's Soccer Exhibition vs. Stony Brook

What: Men's soccer exhibition vs. Stony Brook

Stony Brook (red) and
UConn (blue) before a
corner kick

When: Saturday, August 18, 2012, 7:00 PM

Where: Morrone Stadium

Result: Tie 0-0

Exhibitions are usually nothing special. But this game was unique. First of all, we were wearing our blue road uniforms while Stony Book was wearing their red uniforms. We did that last year against the Seawolves too. And we wore our blue uniforms vs. UMass in the first exhibition. Not sure if it means anything for the regular season.

Andre in his plain
white T-shirt.

As for the game itself, there was no scoring. 0-0 draw, although we had A LOT of chances. We need to beat teams like Stony Brook, but it was an exhibition, so I guess it's ok.

The interesting part was when Andre Blake got a controversial yellow card that he probably didn't deserve. Speaking of Blake, he was wearing a plain white t-shirt to signify he was the goalkeeper. No number or team name. We in the Goal Patrol were discussing why he was wearing that. Did he lose his goalie shirts and simply grab the first thing in his drawer? I don't know.

There were only a few students in the Goal Patrol but we were joined by a few little kids late in the game. They joined us in calling the goalie names like "weenie with hot sauce". Actually, only they did that. But it's a kind of cool name. We should remember it for the future. The first regular season game is this Saturday vs. St. Francis. I will finally attend my first regular season game in ANY sport today at 1:00 PM as the women's soccer team takes on Vermont. I attended the UCLA women's soccer game, but it didn't count.

Welcome back to a New Season! And an Upcoming Schedule Too!

Well, there are about 10 days left until the first UConn athletic event, so here's the blog again! I was a bit delinquent in posting summaries towards the end of last year, but I assure you that will change this year! It should be an exciting year. Most of our men's soccer team is back, so this could be a good year for them. Field hockey is always powerful too. Women's soccer will look to rebound. Volleyball is up and coming, I think. And thus begins my 3rd year at UConn.

I am on campus taking summer courses, so I will be attending the first two weeks of games. Here is a tentative schedule from August 10 until August 26 (the Sunday before classes start).

As you surely know,

(Y) - Will Attend
(P) - Probably Attending
(M) - Might Attend
(D) - Doubtful to Attend

Friday, August 10:


7:00 PM: Women's soccer vs. Northeastern - exh. (Y)

Saturday, August 12:


1:00 PM: Women's soccer vs. LIU  - exh. (Y)
7:00 PM: Men's soccer vs. UMass - exh. (Y)

Thursday, August 16:


12:00 PM: Women's field hockey vs. Quinnipiac - exh. (M) It depends on where I am with a final paper I have to write, and where I am with packing up my stuff to move from my summer dorm to my fall dorm


Friday, August 17:


7:00 PM: Women's soccer vs. UCLA (Y)

Saturday, August 18:


7:00 PM: Men's soccer vs. Stony Brook - exh. (Y)

Sunday, August 19:


12:00 PM: Field hockey vs. Boston College - exh. (D) I will probably attend the women's soccer game instead, since it's a regular season game.
1:00 PM: Women's soccer vs. Vermont (P) But I will definitely attend one of them


Friday, August 24:


7:00 PM: Women's soccer vs. Boston College (Y)

Saturday, August 25:


12:00 PM: Field hockey vs. Bucknell (Y)
7:00 PM: Men's Soccer vs. St. Francis NY (Y)

Sunday, August 26:


1:00 PM: Field hockey vs. Sacred Heart (M)
1:00 PM: Women's soccer vs. Maine (M)
Between the two, I'd say (P) for one of them

UConn Sports Roundup, November 4th, 2011 (UPDATED 2:03 PM)

J.S. Coyne Field in Syracuse is the setting for this
weekend's Big East Field Hockey Tournament. 

Men's Soccer: The Huskies dominated DePaul in the Big East first round, 4-0. UConn outshot the Blue Demons 26-4 and Carlos Alvarez added two goals, including one on a penalty kick. And frankly, this could have been even more of a blowout. Let's hope the Huskies can keep it up when they head into Rutgers on Sunday at 1 for the quartefinals.

Women's Basketball: Tiffany Hayes and Stephanie Dolson each had a double-double as the Huskies defeated Assumption 89-30 in an exhibition match. This should come as no surprise given that Assumption is Division II. But let's hope we can do well in the real season. Next up, we host Pace in an exhibition on Wednesday, before opening the Season vs. Holy Cross on Sunday, November 13th.

The Huskies will look to
beat Rutgers on Sunday in the Big
East soccer tournament. .

Field Hockey: The Big East Tournament gets underway today at 12:30 as the Huskies take on the Louisville Cardinals at J.S. Coyne Field in Syracuse. After that, the Orange will host Villanova. The two winners will square off at 1:00 PM on Sunday. The Orange will look to take home field advantage, while the Huskies want revenge from last year's beating at home on the hands of Syracuse. All games can be seen on Bigeast.tv

Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies play a home-and-home with Northeastern starting tonight. The leg in Boston will be today at 7:00 PM,  while the red and black Huskies come to Freitas tomorrow at 4:00. The home game can be seen on Huskies All-Access.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies are in Erie, Pa this weekend as they face Mercyhurst tonight and Saturday. Both games are at 7:05.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies will host their final two home games of the season as they face West Virginia (tonight, 7:00 PM) and Pittsburgh (Sunday, 2:00 PM). The Huskies are 3-7 in Big East play, while West Virginia and Pitt are 4-7. Also, the Huskies have won two straight.

Football: The Huskies host the Orange tomorrow at noon on ESPNU. If they want any shot of making a bowl game, the Huskies need to win. A 3-6 start plus games vs. Rutgers and at Cincinnati, and we're done. But we're two point favorites. Let's hope we can win.

UPDATE 2:03 PM: The Huskies trailed 2-0 to Louisville early, but came back to win 3-2. Next up is Cuse or Nova. Summary to follow.

UConn Sports Rounup, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween, everybody. Internet is still out in the Koch household so I am here at Starbucks. Here is the rundown...


Men's Soccer: The Huskies' late-season collapse continued yesterday, as they lost 1-0 to Seton Hall. The Pirates had previously been winless in Big East play. Nevertheless, they pulled off their second major upset of the year, following the 0-0 tie with then-#1 Maryland. We will earn the #3 seed in the Big East Tournament, and will host DePaul with the date and time TBD, though it will likely be Wednesday or Thursday.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies pulled off their second straight win, defeating DePaul, 3-1. After falling in set 1, 25-14, the Huskies beat the Blue Demons the next three times, 26-24, 25-21, and 25-20. Next up, we host West Virginia and Pitt on Friday and Sunday at 7:00 PM and 2:00 PM, respectively. The Mountaineers and Panthers rank in the bottom of the Big East standings. Then, we wrap up with Rutgers and Seton Hall on the road, both of whom are at or below .500. With a little help, we could theoretically make the Big East Tournament by winning out.

Men's Basketball: Just three days until the Huskies open their exhibition schedule with a contest against American International. That game is at 7:30 PM on UConnHuskies.com and WTIC.

UConn Sports Roundup from October 29th, 2011

Snow in October? Come on, man! But for now, it's the UConn Sports Roundup.'

Field Hockey: The Huskies clinched the Big East regular season title outright with a 5-0 win over Rutgers yesterday. Anne Jeute scored two goals, and Rayell Heistand, Jestine Angelini, and Marie Elena Bolles added one each. This game was not close, nor was it expected to be. The Huskies improve to 6-0 in Big East play and 16-1 overall and will wrap up the regular season at Princeton on Sunday at 2 PM. Next Friday, the Huskies will "host" Louisville at 12:30 PM in the first Big East Semifinal. That game will be played at Coyne Field in Syracuse and will air on BigEast.tv. The winner will face the winner of Syracuse-Villanova on Sunday at 1 PM.

Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies lost to Syracuse 4-0 in a non-conference matchup. Nicole Paniccia made 30 saves, but it wasn't enough as Syracuse outshot the Huskies 34-17. The two teams will square off again today at 4:00.

Men's Soccer: The Huskies will wrap up the regular season today at Seton Hall. A win clinches them a bye in the first round of the Big East Tournament followed by a home quarterfinal. They can win the Blue Division regular season title with a win and a Marquette loss or draw to Pittsburgh. The Pirates have not won a Big East game this year, so this should be an easy win for us. Then again, that's what Maryland says and they played to a 0-0 draw. And we've had some poor offense in some games this season. Don't count out a trap game. In any case, it will air on WHUS and Live Stats can be found on the Huskies' website.

Women's Volleyball:The Huskies host Notre Dame today at 2:00 PM. That game will be on Huskies All-Access, as will tomorrow's game vs. DePaul, also at 2:00 PM. The Huskies need wins to keep their extremely slim postseason hopes alive.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies host Army tonight at 7:05, looking to improve to 3-0 in Atlantic Hockey play. They are 3-2-1 overall right now. Next weekend, the Huskies will play two 7:05 games at Mercyhurst on Friday and Saturday night.


Update 1:39 PM - Lots of weather cancellations. Field Hockey has been cancelled since Princeton needs to play today's conference game tomorrow. Men's soccer will be played tomorrow at 6 PM.

UConn Sports Roundup, October 28th

Busy weekend. Let's look ahead

Cole Schneider scored a
goal in last night's 4-2 UConn
victory over Holy Cross.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies defeated Holy Cross, 4-2, in the Atlantic Hockey opener home opener. Garret Bartus had 26 saves in the victory, and Billy Latta added the game-winner. Brant Harris, Cody Sharib, and Cole Schneider added goals for the Huskies. They improve to 3-2-1 overall and 2-0-0 in AHA play. Next up, the Huskies will host Army on Saturday at 7:05.

Field Hockey: The Huskies are in New Brunswick today to face Rutgers as they wrap up their Big East schedule. That game will begin at 3:00 PM. Gametracker can be viewed on Rutgers' website. A win would clinch the Big East regular season title outright for the Huskies, who are 15-1 overall and 5-0 in Big East play. Next up, the Huskies will face Princeton on Sunday at 2:00. Then, they will head up to Syracuse on Friday the 4th and Sunday the 6th for the Big East Tournament. Louisville will be the "road" team against the Huskies, and Villanova will face Syracuse in the 3-2 matchup, with the winner of this weekend's game between those two teams being "home". All Big East Tournament games will be on BigEast.tv

Owen T. Carroll Field, home of
Seton Hall's soccer and baseball teams
will host UConn's final regular season
game tomorrow at 1:00. 

Men's Soccer: The Huskies wrap up the regular season facing the Seton Hall Pirates tomorrow at 1 PM. That game will be on WHUS. A win clinches us a bye in the first round and a home quarterfinal and a home quarterfinal on Saturday, November 5th. And with a Marquette loss or tie to Pitt, we will also win the Blue Division. We should win this game. Key word "should". Seton Hall managed a scoreless tie with Maryland at home earlier this year. Don't be surprised to see us fall victim to a trap like we nearly did against Boston University and Yale.

Women's Ice Hockey: Fresh off their first win of the year, the Huskies head up to Syracuse to face the Orange. Tonight's game starts at 7:00 PM, and tomorrow they will play at 4:00. Syracuse is 3-6 on the season while UConn is 1-5-2. Next weekend, the Huskies have a Friday-Saturday home-and-home with Northeastern as Hockey East play continues.

Women's Volleyball: Tomorrow and Sunday, the Huskies will open their final homestand of the season, facing Notre Dame and DePaul. Both games will be at 2 PM. The Huskies are currently 1-7 in conference and 11-12 overall. Theoretically, UConn is not eliminated from Big East contention, but they would need a miracle to work. Both of this weekend's games are on Huskies All-Access. Next weekend, the Huskies play their last two home games of the year. They host Pitt on Friday, November 4th, and West Virginia two days later.

UConn Huskies Sports Roundup, October 27th, 2011 (UPDATED)

Here we go again. Heading into a big weekend, here is today's roundup.


Men's Soccer: In a crucial Blue Division matchup, the Huskies defeated Marquette, 3-0. The Huskies are now 14-1-2 on the season. Allando Matheson opened the scoring and Mamadou Doudou Diouf added two more as UConn rolled to victory. This pulls us within one point of the Golden Eagles for first place in the Blue Division. If we can beat Seton Hall Saturday night, then with a Golden Eagles loss or tie to Pittsburgh, we will win the Blue Division outright. A win would earn us a first-round bye and a home quarterfinal as the #2 see regardless of what Marquette does. The game vs. the Pirates gets underway at 7:30 PM and will be on WHUS. The Golden Eagles will host Pitt at 8:05 Eastern, or 7:05 PM CT local. And really, we should beat Seton Hall. They're 0-7-0 in Big East play. Then again, they did manage a scoreless tie with Maryland. This could be a trap. Update: According to the Seton Hall athletic website, the game will now start at 1:00 PM. It should still be on WHUS, though I have not confirmed tis.

Football: An ugly loss for the Huskies last night, falling 38-20 to Pittsburgh. So much for turning this season around. We now fall to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in Big East Play. In order to get to a bowl, we will need to get through Syracuse, Louisville, Rutgers, and Cincinnati with at most one loss. Not happening. This season is likely over for us.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies will play their first home game of the year tonight when Atlantic Hockey foe Holy Cross comes to Freitas Ice Forum at 7:05 PM. The action will continue Saturday night at 7:05 as they face Army at home. Currently, UConn is 2-2-1 and 1-0-0 in AHA play.

Field Hockey: The Huskies will look to clinch the Big East regular season title outright tomorrow at 3:00 PM when they face Rutgers. Gametracker will be available on Rutgers' website, but no webcast. The Huskies will hen face Princeton on Sunday at 2:00 PM to wrap up the regular season.

Baseball: Just a reminder, the tentative 2012 baseball schedule is up on my site here.

UConn Sports Roundup, Wednesday, October 27th

Freshman phenom Andre
Blake has been amazing
in goal this year. Can he
get some help?

Men's Soccer: The Huskies fell to #5 in the nation following a tough week.That's still pretty good though. Tonight, they will  face off with Marquette in their final home game of the year, at 7:30 PM. The Huskies are currently in second place in the Blue Division, four points behind the Golden Eagles and one ahead of Georgetown and Providence. Remember, the top two in each Division get byes, so this is a crucial game for the Huskies. It can be heard on WHUS or seen on the UConnHuskies All-Access.

Football: The Huskies will head to Pittsburgh at 8:00 PM tonight. That game will be on ESPN. That's right, folks. A football game on a Wednesday Night! Why on earth would you want to do that? Oh wait, I know... Money! Because ESPN likes exploiting student athletes so they can put their football games on TV. They don't care if Pitt students can't go to games because they have class the next day. As long as they're getting money (and they are), they keep doing it. Crazy. But that's the way it is. Also, the Syracuse-UConn game on November 5th will start at noon on ESPNU.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies will face Holy Cross at home tomorrow at 7:05. You can look GameTracker on the Huskies website or paid video is available too shortly. The Huskies are 2-2-1 this year and 1-0-0 in AHA. The Huskies will also host Army on October 29th at 7:05.

UConn Sports Roundup, October 22nd (UPDATED 10:05 PM)

Maine beat the Huskies on Friday
but it was a close contest.

Women's Ice Hockey: A Huskies' comeback fell just short in their Hockey East opener against Maine, falling to 0-5-2. The Huskies lost 4-3. The Black Bears led 3-1 after the first period and added an additional goal in the second to go up 4-1. Rachel Ferrel and Caitlin Hewes cut the deficit to 4-3, but it wasn't enough as the Black Bears moved on to victory in this contest. The two teams will meet again today at 2:00 PM. You can see that game on All-Access.

Mattison Quayle has been
amazing for the Huskies this year
even when the rest of the team has
struggled.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies fell to Villanova on Friday night, 3-1. The two teams split the first two sets, with the Wildcats winning 25-18 in number 1 and the Huskies taking the second, 25-22. But the Wildcats would win the next two easily and take the contest. Mattison Quayle recorded 10 kills and 16 digs. This is her third straight double-double. And she still has one year left after this, as she is only a junior. She could be very impressive if we could get some other players. The rest of our team has struggled, but Quayle has been one of the few bright spots. Lets hope she can keep it up through next season when she graduates.



Men's Soccer: As I mentioned yesterday, tonight at 7:30PM  is SENIOR NIGHT!!!! The game is sold out already. The Huskies will face Georgetown in a crucial Blue Division showdown. Providence beat West Virginia last night, 2-1, which moved them (for now) into a tie with us for second place in the Division with 13 points. Marquette has 15 and will head to Seton Hall today at 1:00. Georgetown and West Virginia are right behind with 12 points. Of course, the Friars and Mountaineers have played one more game than everybody else. So this will be a very exciting stretch run. The Huskies will host Marquette Wednesday at 7:00 before heading off to Seton Hall to wrap up the season.

In a New England rivalry,
the Huskies will face the
Friars today at 1 PM. 

Women's Soccer: Last night, St. John's defeated Syracuse 2-0. So, now they have 15 points to our 14 and Providence's 13. And the Huskies will face the Friars today in Rhode Island. With a win, the Huskies would host Rutgers from the National Division in the first round, and if they win, would face either Louisville or Georgetown (depending on if the Cards can beat Cincinnati today) in the Quarterfinals. With a tie, the Huskies get a #5 seed upon tying with St. John's and losing the tiebreak. In this case, they would face West Virginia again if they win. A loss to the Friars sends the Friars and Red Storm through instead of the Huskies. Opening round games would be on Thursday afternoon/evening sometime.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies head to Merrimack today at 7:00 PM. The Warriors are 3-0 and are heavy favorites in this game. You can view live state here or tune your radio to WLLH 1400 AM out of North Andover, MA. Also, for those not in Northern Mass, you can listen to the Merrimack audio here. (RealPlayer is required).

Bring it on, Otto. You'll
never match us!

Field Hockey: Tomorrow is the big showdown - Huskies and Orange for the Big East marbles. At least, the regular season marbles. The winner will win the regular season crown and likely face Louisville in the first round. The Cardinals hammered Providence 6-0 yesterday, but have struggled mightily recently. They'll be looking to get revenge, but it probably won't happen. But I'll be writing more on this

Update 3:17 PM: The Huskies lost to Providence 2-1, thanks to two goals in the last nine minutes. The Huskies led 1-0, but Laura Diclemente scored in the 81st and 89th minute to give the Friars the win. The Huskies are now eliminated from the playoffs. Also, the women's hockey team looks to be on the way to their first win of the season, leading 3-0 after two periods. Sophomore Nicole Paniccia got the start after relieving Alexandra Garcia last night for the last 42 minutes. Don't be surprised if she's the full-time starter soon.

Update 3:57 PM: Huskies defeat Black Bears 3-0 is the final. Paniccia gets the shutout. Huskies get their first win of the year. All is well. UConn is 1-5-2 on the year and will head up to Syracuse for two games. Game 1 is Friday the 28th at 7:00, and Game 2 is Saturday the 29th at 4:00.

Update 9:53 PM: 0-0 after one OT period at Morrone for the Huskies vs. Hoyas. Getting ready to start the second and final one. A goal ends it. If nobody scores, it's a scoreless draw.

Update 10:05 PM: And 0-0 is your final. Georgetown almost scored a last-second goal (literally!) but it sailed over the bar. Full write-up tomorow.

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.

Thursday Morning UConn Huskies Roundup (October 13th, 2011)

Good morning, UConn fans! It's starting to get chilly here in the Northeast. But it's now just over three months until I go back to school from medical leave. Here's your roundup.

Men's and Women's Basketball: First Night is this Friday night at 7:00 PM, with doors opening at 6:00. Pretty much the only remotely interesting thing they do all night is introduce this year's players.  They also have giveaways that with several thousand fans competing, you're probably not winning. If you don't want to waste an hour or more of your time just watching this overrated garbage, there's plenty of other sports stuff you can do Friday night at 7:00 PM. Read on for more.

Football: The homecoming game is this Saturday at 3:30 PM vs. USF. Forecast is mostly sunny and a high near 67. The Huskies are 2-4 on the season and 0-1 in Big East play. If we want any chance of going to a bowl this season, we probably have to win this game. Otherwise, we need to go 4-1 down the stretch, which is doubtful. Even 3-2 I doubt we can do. But if we start 2-5, we're almost certainly not going bowling this December.

Men's Soccer: Well, the shutout streak is over. After 961 minutes and 32 seconds, the Huskies conceded a goal on a bad angle shot that Andre Blake really should have saved. Nevertheless, thanks to two goals by Mamadou Doudou Diouf, the Huskies won 2-1. This was almost a disaster for UConn, however. With the score 2-1 and time running out, Andrew John-Baptiste headed a ball away from danger just before it crossed the goal line. That would have made it 2-2 and the Friars would have had all the momentum heading into Overtime. Instead, a win's a win, and the Huskies will take it. Next up, the Huskies will host Pittsburgh on Saturday at 7:30 PM. That game will be on All-Access, but evidently not WHUS. With a 3-0-1 record in Big East play (and 12-0-1 overall), the Huskies are in second place in the Blue Division, two points behind Marquette and one ahead of Georgetown and West Virginia. The Huskies have not faced any of those teams yet, and will face the Mountaineers in Morgantown and the other two at home.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies will conclude their home schedule with two games this weekend. First, on Friday night at 7:00 PM (First Night time), they will host the Pittsburgh Panthers at Morrone Stadium. Then on Sunday at 1:00 PM, it's Senior Day, as the American Division leading West Virginia Mountaineers come rolling in. The Huskies are 3-3-2 on the season in Big East play, and 6-6-2 overall. This puts them a mere two points ahead of Providence for the final Big East Tournament spot. The Huskies and Friars will square off in Providence on Saturday, October 22nd, in the final game of the season for both teams. As UConn's travel partner, the Friars will also host West Virginia and Pitt this weekend. So, it's a critical end to the year. As for game coverage, the West Virginia game will be on All-Access, while Pitt will not be. Both games will be on WHUS, however.

Women's Ice Hockey: On Friday and Saturday, the Huskies will play host to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Friday's game will be at 7:00 PM (First Night time), while Saturday's will be at 4:00 PM. UMD is ranked #7 in the country, so these games will be a major challenge for us.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies open Atlantic Hockey play on Friday night at 7:05 as they travel to West Point to face Army. Live video is available on Army's website. The Black Knights have played one game this year, an 8-1 loss to Union.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies will return to Gampel Saturday night at 7:00 PM to face St. John's. The Red Storm also do not have a win in Big East play, so this is a very winnable game to get back on the right track.

Field Hockey: The Huskies host Princeton on Sunday at 2:00 PM for the first of two non-conference meetings this year. The Tigers have had a very disappointing season and will look to prove something against the #4 Huskies. Next Sunday is an even bigger game for UConn, as they host #5 Syracuse in a contest that will almost certainly decide the Big East regular season champion.

UConn Sports Roundup, October 12th

Only a couple sports on the ticket today. 

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies wrapped up their non-conference season with a 3-1 win over Fordham. The Rams won the first set 25-23, but the Huskies won the next three, 25-19, 25-18, and 25-20. Additionally, Mattison Quayle tied a career high with 21 kills. The Huskies went 10-5 in non Big East games and are now 10-10 overall. They will continue their Big East schedule Saturday at 7:00 PM against St. John's.

Men's Soccer: Due to potential inclement weather, the game vs. Providence today has been moved up to 4:00 PM. The last time Providence came to Morrone Stadium was in the 2009 Big East Tournament, when they knocked us out. We'll be looking to avenge that here today. The game will still be on WHUS and All-Access.

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.

UConn Sports Roundup/Preview, October 10th (UPDATED)

As promised, a look ahead to the Week to Come, which of course, is Homecoming Week. For info on what happened over the weekend, see my last post or click here.

Men's and Women's Basketball: Friday Night is First Night. It is the biggest mockery of basketball that will happen all year. But if you're interested, the event starts at 7:00 and doors open at 6:00. More info here.

Football: Following the humiliating loss to West Virginia, the Huskies return home to host USF on Saturday at 3:30 PM. That game will be on SNY and Big East Regional Television. This is pretty much a must-win game for the Huskies who come in 2-4 and 0-1 in Big East play. After USF, they head to Pitt in a nationally televised game on Wednesday, Octoer 26th, so it doesn't get any easier. But why are they playing college football on Wednesday nights? Ridiculous.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Huskies will open up their Atlantic Hockey Schedule on Friday night as they travel to West Point to face Army. The Huskies are 0-1-1 on the season and are looking to live up to heightened expectations following their AHA semifinals appearance last year.

Men's Soccer: The Huskies will look to extend their shutout and unbeaten streaks Wednesday at home against Providence.  They will wrap up the homestand Saturday against Pittsburgh. Both games are at 7:30 PM. They are each available on All-Access but only Providence will be on WHUS due to the football game. The NCAA record for shutouts is 11 games without allowing a goal, and right now the Huskies have gone nine. So, that record could fall soon. For now though, the Huskies are 11-0-1 overall, and 2-0-1 in Big East play. Critical home games against Georgetown and Marquette are still to come. 

Field Hockey: Just one game for the Huskies this week, Sunday at 2:00 PM against Princeton. The Huskies actually face Princeton twice this year, the other time being in the last game of the season. But the Tigers have had a disappointing year this year. The Huskies will be looking to take the victory. After the Princeton matchup, the Huskies will host Boston University under the lights on the 19th, before hosting Syracuse at noon on the 23rd in a game that will in all likelihood, decide the Big East regular season champion. The Huskies will clinch the regular season title with a win there, and if the Orange beat Georgetown on Friday (which they should) it will assure them the title with a win as well. Normally, I'd say this doesn't matter, but with the "Big Three" of UConn, Syracuse, and Louisville, and the Cardinals almost certainly getting the #3 seed, it would help to avoid them. 

Women's Ice Hockey: The 0-2-2 Huskies look to notch one in the win column when they play a two game series against Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs will come into Freitas Ice Forum on Friday at 7:00 PM (note: the same time First Night begins) and again on Saturday at 4:00.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies wrap up their home season this weekend with games against Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The Pitt game will begin at 7:00 PM on Friday (same time as First Night) while they will face West Virginia on Sunday at 1:00 PM on Senior Day. They will conclude the regular season on Saturday, October 22nd at Providence at 1:00 PM. Currently, the Huskies are two points ahead of the Friars for the final Big East playoff spot and one point behind St. John's for the right to host an Opening Round game. They will almost certainly play in the 4-5 matchup instead of bypassing the Opening Round, since #3 Syracuse has 15 points, four more than the Huskies with three games to go.

Women's Volleyball: Coming off a narrow loss to USF, the Huskies will look to bounce back. They wrap up their non-conference slate tomorrow at 7:00 PM against Fordham, before hosting St. John's Saturday at 7:00 PM. The Rams game will be on All-Access, while the Red Storm matchup will only be on GameTracker. St. John's is even with the Huskies at the bottom of the Big East at 0-5. So, this is a game the Huskies can win.

Update 4:50 PM: Three Huskies were announced as weekly award winners earlier today. Men's soccer Goalkeeper Andre Blake was named Big East Rookie of the Week after his 9th straight shutout and Field Hockey freshman phenom Chloe Hunnable received Big East Offensive Player of the Week thanks to her three goals and one assist. Additionally, Brant Harris was named Atlantic Hockey Offensive Player of the Week thanks to his three goals over the weekend.

UConn Sports Roundup, September 28-30, 2011

Note: Due to Rosh Hashanah, this post includes information I would post through September 30th, which includes information on weekend contests as well, to the extent that I would mention them between now and Friday. I will likely post Friday night after sundown, but in case I don't, here goes....

Men's Soccer: Last night very nearly proved to be a disaster against lowly Yale for the Huskies. The score was 0-0 after regulation. That was only because Yale misfired just over the crossbar as time expired in the second half. It would have been a split second call as to whether it was a goal or not. In real-time it was clear it was past the crossbar (and goal line) prior to the horn, but the horn isn't automatically sounded at 0:00. There's a second delay or so. So if that ball had gone in, however they called it would have ignited furor. But thankfully for all of us, it missed high. Also thankfully, Nickardo Blake scored with one minute left in the second OT to spare us all the pain of a scoreless draw. The Huskies are a perfect 9-0-0 and will face #8 Louisville in a critical road test at 7 PM Saturday night. The Cardinals are looking to bounce back from a loss to Notre Dame and don't want to start 0-2 in Big East play to expect them to come out hungry. No word yet on whether that game will be on WHUS. GameTracker will be available however, though. Louisville currently does not list the game on All-Access although they do list future men's soccer games there. I'm guessing there's some reason none of these places can confirm that they're broadcasting it. What that reason is, I don't know.

Field Hockey: The Huskies go under the lights at Sherman tonight to face the UMass Minutewomen. The Huskies are 7-1 overall and tied for first in the Big East at 2-0 in conference. And the soccer team isn't the only Top-5 Huskies program to play Louisville in a major contest Saturday night. Louisville, who got the two seed in the Big East Tournament a year ago but was knocked out by the Huskies in the first round, will be back in Storrs for the first time since that weekend in November. That game will be on Saturday at 12:00 PM. The Cardinals are 1-1 in Big East play and 7-3 overall. And unlike the Huskies, they've already played (and lost to) Syracuse. And while regular season titles may not matter much, bear in mind that in all likelihood the "Big Three" are going to get the top three seeds in some order. And the #4 seed will be a weaker team. So the #1 seed has an easy first game (provided they don't fall into a trap) while #2 and #3 still have to fight it out to get there. Look at last year as an example. So getting the #1 seed matters here. That way come Syracuse and the first weekend in November, we can hopefully do to the Orange what they did to us last year at our place. But for now, take it one game at a time. Beat Louisville at Sherman. Then worry about the next game.

Football: The Huskies are back at home on Saturday against Western Michigan. Since there will be significant development between now and then most likely, I'll write something on this Saturday.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies will be on national TV this Friday night as they head to South Bend to face the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. This was supposed to be a good game and a rematch of the Huskies' upset last year in the Big East Tournament but both teams have disappointed. The Irish have dropped out of the poll, and the Huskies are barely .500. ESPN can't do anything now though, so that game will air on ESPNU at 7:30 PM. Also, audio is available on WHUS. The Huskies will continue play on Sunday, facing DePaul at 2:00 PM in Chicago.

Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies host Rensaleer (or RPI, depending on where you look. Same school, different name) for a two-game series beginning Friday night at 7:00 at Frietas Ice Forum. They'll conclude the series Saturday at 3:00 PM.

Men's Ice Hockey: The Men's Ice Hockey team will host Ryerson (another Canadian school) in an exibition contest Saturday at 8:00 PM. The regular season gets underway next Saturday with a trip to Bowling Green.

Women's Volleyball: The Huskies are looking to bounce back from a bad road trip as come home for two more Big East contests. On Saturday at 2:00 PM, Marquette rolls into Gampel Pavilion, and on Sunday at the same time, the Syracuse Orange will do the same. For those of you hoops fans who just can't wait until February 25 to see the Orange come into Gampel, this is your chance. Those who can, who said you could only pick one? Admission to this one is free to everybody. And would any true Husky fan would miss a chance to see a UConn-Syracuse game at Gampel for free? I think not.

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.

UConn Sports Roundup, September 21, 2011

Men's soccer: The #2 Huskies improved to 7-0-0 on the year with a 2-0 victory over the #10 Boston College 2-0. Carlos Alvarez and Tony Cascio added goals. A good road win for the Huskies against a prominent opponent. Next up, we face our archnemisis St. John's Saturday night at Morrone Stadium. A huge sell-out crowd is expected for this one. To any students on campus, go to Memorial Stadium at 6:00 PM for a Goal Patrol meeting and lots of free stuff. This should be a great game. On an unrelated note, Red Storm has got to be the stupidest nickname this side of Orange. They decided "Redmen" wasn't PC so they tried to get cute with it. Blech. Aditionally, #1 Maryland drew 0-0 to Seton Hall, so we could be ranked #1 next week.
Women's Ice Hockey: The Huskies were picked to finish fifth in the Hockey East preseason poll out of eight teams. Boston University finished first with 55 votes, including six first place votes. UConn received 30. The team will open up on Friday night with an exhibition vs. McGill at 7:00 PM.

Men's Ice Hockey: UConn was picked to finish fifth in Atlantic Hockey this season's poll. UConn reached the AHA semifinals last year and will look to improve. Once one of the worst programs in the country, the Huskies seek to increase their talent. They will open with an exhibition vs. Ryerson on October 1 at 8:00 PM.

Field Hockey: In spite of their loss to BC over the weekend, the Huskies are still ranked #4 in the latest poll. UConn received 720 votes, but Old Dominion received all 47 first place votes.