Fresh off a win over Hofstra, UConn men’s soccer (2-2-1) will take on North Florida (1-3) this Saturday at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium.
The Huskies have played four soccer games in two weeks, with three of their games going to overtime this season.
Redshirt senior Scott Levene believes that the team’s busy schedule will help the team in the long term.
“My redshirt sophomore year, our first three games went into overtime and that was the best thing that could happen to us because we got an extra 60 minutes of fitness, and I think playing those overtime games in the beginning helped us,” Levene said.
Meanwhile. North Florida come into this weekend with a lack of momentum. The Ospreys have not played since September 5, due to the cancellation of their last scheduled match due to weather. In their last game, North Florida fell to South Carolina 1-0.
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“This team needs only one thing – games”
The Ospreys’ are led by sophomore Adrian Nuñez who has had three goals in four games this season. Last season, Nuñez was named the ASUN Conference Freshman of the Year after leading the team in goals with seven and assists, four.
The Huskies have yet to play a road game this season, but have not had the same success at home that they have had in previous seasons. With their two home losses this season the Huskies have already totalled their home loss total from last season. This season has also seen the team struggle to score goals, as the Huskies have only been able to tally three goals, the number they had in their home opener last season.
Currently, head coach Ray Reid is relying on a very young squad with freshman Austin Da Silva, Blaise Ngague, Josh Burnett, Nicolas Apostol and sophomores Niko Petridis, Munir Saleh and Nkosi Burgess, all playing major minutes for the Huskies.
Reid believes that the most important thing for these players is experience.
“This team needs only one thing – games,” Reid said.
Antonio Salazar is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at antonio.salazar@uconn.edu.
