UConn junior midfielder Kwame Awuah attempts to corral the ball during the Huskies’ game against Memphis at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Connecticut on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. (Jason Jiang/The Daily Campus)
The UConn men’s soccer team will attempt to end its six-game winless streak Saturday night at home against UCF.
The Huskies (3-5-4) enter Saturday’s matchup fresh off 2-1 road loss to the Louisville Cardinals. UConn’s Tyler Leeman scored the team’s lone goal in the 26th minute when he fired a shot to the near right post from six yards out. Junior co-captain Jake Nerwinski and freshman forward Fredrik Jonsson were credited with assists.
However, Louisville’s Ricardo Oliveros scored the go-ahead goal when the game was knotted at one goal each in the 71st minute of play. Oliveros recorded his first collegiate goal on a snipe from 12 yards out that sailed past UConn goalkeeper Scott Levene. The lack of scoring has continued to haunt the Huskies this season.
The Knights (5-6-1) also head into Saturday riding an emotional rollercoaster. They rallied from a one-goal deficit for the second time in three games to defeat the Stetson Hatters on Tuesday.
UCF’s Matias Pyysalo notched the game-winner and his fifth goal of the season on a strike from 21 yards out that was set up by a Hatters foul in the 67th minute.
“I am proud of how the guys rebounded after a difficult loss against Tulsa on Saturday,” said UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham after the win. “After going down a goal, the team showed its resiliency by battling back, tying the game, wining it in the second half and having multiple chances to make it 3-1 or 4-1. Their fight was spectacular.”
UConn and UCF have both struggled in conference play to start the 2015 season. UConn has yet to record a win against an American Athletic Conference opponent, standing at 0-3-1 on the year. UCF (1-2-1) has had a little more success, with just a 3-1 win over Temple on Oct. 7. The Knights are in fifth place in the conference, trailing first-place SMU (4-0) and USF (4-0) by a sizeable amount.
Both teams have a long way to go if they want to make a postseason run. Saturday’s game will be an important game as the season comes to a close. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Morrone Stadium.
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