Freshman Josh Burnett makes a move on the Iona defense. (Olivia Stenger/The Daily Campus)
Over the weekend, the UConn men’s soccer team fell in their season opener to Iona in sudden death double-overtime.
The match ended 0-0 after regulation time as the Huskies could not capitalize on their multiple chances on Iona’s net.
Last season, the Huskies also opened against Iona, but won the match 3-1 with goals from Abdou Mbacke Thiam, Alex Sanchez and Nkosi Burgess.
Season Openers
Over the last ten years, the Huskies have often gotten their season off to a strong start with wins in eight of their last 10 openers. Four of those wins came over St. Francis Brooklyn, a common foe for the Huskies early in the season.
The Huskies lone loss during that stretch came against Coastal Carolina during the 2014 season. The then-No. 8 Huskies fell to the No.17 Chanticleers in a rare instance where the Huskies faced a top-team to kick off their season.
Friday’s match was the first time a Huskies home opener went to overtime in two years. The last time came in 2015 against St. Francis in a match that ended at zero.
Recent History in Overtime
Over the last 10 seasons the Huskies have been balanced in overtime with 10 wins, 10 losses and 20 ties.
Recently, UConn has struggled closing out games. In the last three seasons, the Huskies have lost five and tied three of their 16 games that have gone to extra time.
In 2013, none of UConn’s games required overtime to find a winner. In 2015, the Huskies had seven of their games head to extra time, with five remaining gridlocked after two overtime periods.
Extra Notes:
Newcomers Dayonn Harris (junior transfer), Blaise Tohou N’Gague (freshman) and Josh Burnett (freshman) started for the Huskies on Friday. Freshman Austin Da Silva also saw minutes for the Huskies.
South Glastonbury native Josh Plimpton scored the game winning goal for Iona
Antonio Salazar is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at antonio.salazar@uconn.edu.
