UConn Player and Team of the Week

As I started last week, it's time for this week's UConn Player and Team of the Week. Additionally, three honorable mention players are named, plus up to one honorable mention team. (None is included this week). Here we go. Additionally, I'm going to start a "points system" for players, with five points for winning POW, three for a HM1, two for an HM2, and one for HM3. Being on a Team of the Week will also earn the player one point, but I will not include those totals for players who have not won POW.

Image from Daily Campus

Player of the Week: Byron Jones, Defensive Back, Football
Jones had the critical play in the Huskies 16-10 Homecoming victory over South Florida. In the fourth quarter, with the Bulls winning 10-9, he recovered a USF fumble and ran it 10 yards to give the Huskies a lead they would not relinquish.

The Huskies' defense as a whole was also dynamic, forcing three additional turnovers en route to the win. For the second year in a row, we defeated South Florida without an offensive touchdown. It was this fantastic showing that earned Jones the Big East Defensive Player of the Week.

Honorable Mentions

1) Mattison Quayle, OH Women's Volleyball: Averaged 5.3 Kills per set over UConn's two victories, vs. Fordham and St. John's. Matched career highs in both games. She was named the Big East Player of the Week.

2) Anne Jeute, FW Field Hockey: Jeute scored two goals in a 3-1 victory over Princeton.

3) Lyle McCombs, RB, Football: McCombs totaled 130 yards on the ground in the 16-10 victory.

Team of the Week: Football

 

The Huskies got the win on Homecoming and defeated the USF Bulls, 16-10. The defense was great and managed to pull it out. The Huskies obtained their first Big East Victory of the year and are now 3-4. We started slow the last few years. Let's try to change it.

 

HM: Women's Volleyball for their two wins.

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.