The UConn women’s soccer team won against UMass Lowell in an away game. Photos by Judah Shingleton / The Daily Campus.
The UConn women’s soccer team pulled off their most exciting win of the season so far in their final out-of-conference game. The Huskies made a trip upstream to UMass Lowell, but it was the River Hawks who were left without a paddle after the 2-1 overtime win for UConn.
The Huskies (4-3-1) moved above .500 with the victory, while the River Hawks (1-6-1) continued their tough start to the season. This was the first meeting all-time between the two schools.
UConn got a lot of shots early, but it took a misplay by the River Hawks to result in the first goal. On a bizarre play in the 21st minute, the UMass Lowell goalkeeper Annerens Tjim put the ball in her own net to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. The goal was credited to the whole UConn team.
The score would remain that way until the 70th minute, when Emily Nelson cashed in for the River Hawks on a header to even the score at one. Neither team could find the back of the net again for the rest of regulation.
However, less than a minute-and-a-half into the first overtime period, redshirt sophomore forward Kess Elmore called game with her fourth goal of the season. This one may have been her most impressive one yet, a bomb from about 40 yards out that went over the leaping figure of Tjim in net.
There were a lot of scoring opportunities for such a low scoring game. Both teams got a lot of shots off (UConn 11, UMass Lowell 12), but few of them were actually on net. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Randi Palacios had to make just two saves in the win, but both of them were absolute beauties.
The Huskies only converted on one of their three shots on net in the game, but they took advantage of the gift-wrapped goal in the first half to come away with the victory. This was a big win, as they will now enter into conference play with a winning record.
UConn’s first conference game is this Thursday against East Carolina. Opening kick will be at 7 p.m. at Dillon Stadium in Hartford.
Danny Barletta is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at daniel.barletta@uconn.edu.
