The Huskies take care of the ball during a game against SMU on Oct. 28, 2018. (Eric Wang/ The Daily Campus)
UConn men’s soccer lost at the hands of Tulsa Friday night by a score of 2-1. This marks the second straight loss for the Huskies, and it came in the final game of the regular season.
As early as last Saturday, UConn (10-4-2) held the No. 1 seed in the upcoming American Athletic Conference tournament. After this loss to Tulsa (6-9-2), UConn dropped to the No. 4 seed.
UConn would have loved to host the American Athletic Conference tournament, as they boast a home record of 9-1-1. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely that the Huskies will get to host a playoff game. UConn is 1-3-1 away from Morrone this season.
The Huskies managed to put the first goal on the board in the first half against Tulsa, thanks to the Dayonn-Harris-to-Abdou-Mbacke-Thiam connection that we have grown accustomed to seeing this season. It marked Thiam’s 13th goal of the season and Harris’ sixth assist.
The Huskies had a massive shot advantage in the first half, outshooting Tulsa 13-6. Fortunately for the Golden Hurricane, their goalie recorded four saves in the first half, limiting UConn’s damage to just one goal.
The second half was a different story. Tulsa’s defense tightened up and held UConn to just two shots to Tulsa’s five. Two of those Tulsa shots found the back of UConn’s goal.
The first came in the 64th minute when Munashe Raranje scored off of a penalty kick for his first goal of the season. Then, with the score tied at 1-1 in the 67th minute, Juan Sanchez passed it to Chase Bromstedt for a shot that found space on the right side of the goal. Tulsa hung on to win 2-1.
UConn will move on to The American tournament to No. 5 seed Temple at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida. UCF finished the season atop The American and will host as the one seed.
Sean Janos is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at sean.janos@uconn.edu.