Vivien Beil (pictured) picked up an assist, but UConn fell at Memphis. (Natilija Marosz/The Daily Campus)
Wrapping up their first road swing of 2017 American conference play, the UConn women’s soccer team (4-6-3) fell at Memphis (9-5-1) Sunday. A 3-2 defeat, the Huskies never led and the loss gave them a split on the trip after defeating Tulsa 1-0 on Thursday.
The Tigers had an established prolific offense by way of several potent scorers, and it was what carried the day for them Sunday.
It didn’t take long for Memphis to get going, as eight minutes in sophomore forward Mikayla Morton scored from an assist from midfielder Serena Nolan. It was Morton’s eighth goal of the season.
Less than five minutes later Nolan was scoring a goal for herself. At the 12-minute mark, Marie Levasseur would send a ball into UConn’s box. Nolan finished, putting Memphis up 2-0.
Neither team would strike again until the second half.
This time, the Tigers pounced even earlier. Just three minutes into the second half, Elizabeth Woerner would push the lead to three on an assist from Morton. It was Woerner’s 10th goal this season. Morton has five assists to go with her eight goals, giving her 21 points, one behind Woerner. With her assist on Nolan’s goal, Levasseur has 20 points on six goals and eight assists.
The Huskies would rally quickly. Only 21 seconds after Woerner’s goal, sophomore Regan Schiappa scored for the Huskies with an assist to junior forward Vivien Beil. It was Schiappa’s first career goal. It was Beil’s third assist of the year, which puts her in first on the team.
UConn would pick up another goal 26 minutes into the second half as freshman outside midfielder Yamilee Eveillard scored her second goal of the season.
After a poor start, the Huskies were ultimately only outshot by the Tigers 18-13, including outshooting them 8-7 in the second half, and matched them in corner kicks at five.
Prior to Eveillard’s goal, junior midfielder Kim Urbanek received a yellow card and UConn committed more fouls then Memphis, 10 to seven.
The Huskies will now be home for a pair against the Texas teams, with SMU (5-5-1) coming to Morrone Thursday evening and Houston (5-5-1) on Sunday. SMU gave last year’s team their lone blip in conference play, a 0-0 tie at SMU.
Matt Barresi is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at matthew.barresi@uconn.edu.
