The mens soccer team defeats Rider last Friday at the University of Hartford. Jordan Hall scored 2 goals that led the team for a win. Photo by Charlotte Lao / The Daily Campus
The UConn men’s soccer team will look to get back to winning ways as they travel for a tough test against No. 6 Georgetown Saturday.
The Huskies (2-2) started the season off with wins over Rider University and Rhode Island, but have dropped their last two contests, including a 3-0 upset at the hands of Yale in New Haven on Wednesday night. UConn posted a 13-9 advantage in shots over the Bulldogs, but quickly fell behind after Ryan Mateo scored a pair of early long distance strikes and Miguel Yuste converted a penalty to give Yale a 3-0 halftime lead that they held to the final whistle.
Georgetown (4-0) will be the first ranked opponent UConn faces this season. The Hoyas boast wins over Syracuse, Temple, UC Irvine and UCLA and already hold a goal differential of +10 (12 scored, two conceded).
Sophomore forward Zach Riviere leads Georgetown in points with seven, largely thanks to his hat trick that led the team to a 5-1 victory over UCLA in the second game of a west coast trip on Monday. Junior midfielder Paul Rothrock leads the team with four assists while junior midfielder Derek Dodson and junior defender Sean O’Hearn each have dished out three. The Hoyas have found offensive production all across the roster as 12 different players have recorded at least one point this season.
As for the Huskies, it has very much been a two-man attack. Senior forward Jordan Hall remains the only UConn player to have scored so far this season and already has six goals in his first season as a Husky since transferring from Rutgers. Hall has been set up almost exclusively by fellow senior Dayonn Harris, who has been an offensive spark for UConn in the midfield and has dished out a team high of five assists.
In order to pick up a win at Georgetown, the Huskies will need to be more clinical with opportunities in the final third. UConn has averaged almost 11 shot attempts per game, yet has a goals per game average of just 1.5. The Huskies will also need to keep the Hoyas off the score sheet early as they have conceded four first-half goals in their past two games.
The game will be played at Shaw field at 1 p.m.
Story Salit is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus and can be reached via email at story.salit@uconn.edu.
