Senior transfer Jordan Hall scored two goals against Rider last Friday and a hattrick on Tuesday against the University of Rhode Island. Photo by Charlotte Lao / The Daily Campus.
The UConn men’s soccer team is off to a great start this season with its first two matches resulting in wins. So far, the Huskies have scored five goals, thanks to senior transfer Jordan Hall scoring two goals against Rider last Friday and a hattrick on Tuesday against the University of Rhode Island, and only conceded one goal against URI.
While the men’s soccer team doesn’t play its first conference game until Sept. 27 against the University of Southern Florida, they are currently No. 3 in the American Athletic Conference, trailing Tulsa and Southern Methodist University who both won their first two matches of the season.
SMU, the reigning champion of the conference last year, is currently on top of the standings, as they defeated Lipscomb and Houston Baptist this past week. The Mustangs’ Nicky Hernandez kicked off their season on Friday against Lipscomb by scoring a bicycle kick in the 24th minute, followed by a second goal a couple of minutes later. To secure their win, midfielder DJ Williams scored their third goal towards the end of the first half. On Monday, SMU dominated their match against Houston Baptist 7-1, including a hattrick from forward Garrett McLaughlin.
Tulsa is second in the American standings, as they won their first match against Gonzaga on Friday and their second against Lipscomb on Monday. Tulsa midfielder Charles Noyelle scored their only goal against the Bulldogs, in which they followed up with a 3-1 win at home. Their first goal was from forward Thomas Wells and their second goal was scored less than a minute afterward by Johnathan Cervantes. The Hurricane’s third goal came toward the 84th minute, where defender Rooks Hunter passed the ball to Mitchell Cashion, who made a run inside the penalty box and put the ball in the back of the net.
Cincinnati, who is No. 4 in the conference standings, lost its first match 1-0 at home against Mercer on Friday but improved in their second match against Albany winning 2-1 at home on Monday. Creggton Charlton scored in the 59th minute followed by a second goal in the 66th minute by forward Darryn Commissiong.
Temple dropped to seventh in the division standings after losing 1-0 in its opening match against Rutgers at home on Friday, followed by a 3-0 defeat away against Georgetown on Monday.
No. 9 UCF started its season with a 2-1 defeat on Friday against Wake Forest, with midfielder Gianluca Arcangeli scoring the only goal for the Knights. UCF made a comeback in its second match of the season on Monday, defeating North Carolina 2-1. The Knights were down 1-0 at the end of the first half, but turned the match around after halftime with Arcangeli scoring in the 63rd minute followed by Cal Jenning’s second goal in the 78th minute.
David Sandoval is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at david.sandoval@uconn.edu
