UConn men’s soccer freshman forward Fredrik Jonsson dribbles downfield during the Huskies’ game against Rhode Island at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. Jonsson scored UConn’s lone goal in the 1-0 victory. (Jason Jiang/The Daily Campus)
The UConn men’s soccer team (3-0-3) will put its undefeated record on the line again Tuesday when they head to Massachusetts to play Boston College (4-2-0) at Newton Campus Field at 7 p.m.
The Huskies extended their winning streak to three games with a 1-0 win over Rhode Island last Saturday at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. That game featured the first career goal from freshman forward Fredrik Jonsson, and the fourth shutout in six games for goalkeeper Scott Levene. Jonsson and Levene were both chosen for the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll on Monday.
Before the match, the team held a moment of silence for former head coach Joe Morrone, who passed away Wednesday morning. Morrone coached the team from 1969 to 1996, and won the NCAA championship in 1981.
UConn has struggled at times to score in 2015, but the defense has remained stout throughout. The strong backline in combination with the excellent play of Levene, who has been named to the aforementioned honor roll for each of the season’s first four weeks, has limited opponents to just two goals in six matches.
Boston College will likely pose a difficult challenge for the defense. The Eagles have scored seven goals in four matches at their home stadium, where they have a 3-1-0 record. Their most recent match was a 2-0 home win over Pittsburgh in their conference opener Saturday. Trevor Davock and Idrissa Bangura scored the goals for the Eagles in that win.
Davock is tied with Simon Enstrom for the Boston College team lead in goals, with three scores on the season. Bangura and Atobra Ampadu are tied for the team lead in assists with two apiece. In net, goalkeeper Cedric Saladin has a 1.13 goals against average in six games this season.
While the Huskies have shown that they are a second-half team in the early stages of the season, with four of their five goals coming after halftime, the Eagles have been equally good in both frames. Boston College has outscored opponents 5-3 in first halves and 6-3 in second halves. If UConn gets out to a slow start Tuesday, they could be in trouble.
These two teams haven’t met since Sept. 19, 2012, when UConn defeated Boston College 2-0 in Storrs. In that game, Mamadou Doudou Diouf scored two goals to lead the Huskies to victory.
UConn leads the all-time series against Boston College 31-8-3.
Tyler Keating is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at tyler.keating@uconn.edu.
