The Huskies defeat Monmouth 1-0 in the second half of overtime Saturday night at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. Even though UConn couldn’t capitalize on any scoring chances during regulation time, Freshman Okem Chime (9) found a way to get the ball into the net in extra time to lift the Huskies to the win. The Huskies will return to the field to take on Yale this Tuesday, Sept. 14, with kickoff set to be 7pm at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. Photo by Sofia Sawchuk, Staff Photographer
Fresh off a hard-fought home win against Dartmouth earlier this week, the UConn men’s soccer team will continue its Big East gauntlet against DePaul Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
In their last game on the road, the Huskies fell 1-0 to the Butler Bulldogs in their conference opener They will have their hands full again, as DePaul has also won four of its first six games.
The Blue Demons are led by Jack Richards, who has led the way with 4 goals and 9 points in this young season. Marek Gonda will also be a key contributor in this contest, trailing Richards closely behind with 3 goals of his own. DePaul is also well-anchored on the defensive end, as goalkeeper Gandhi Cruz has notched more than four saves per game in the season’s initial stretch, saving 81% of the shots that have come his way.
UConn will look to impose its will on the road and play with a controlled amount of physicality, with an eye towards winning the foul battle like it did last time out against Dartmouth. Led by Jayden Reid’s hot start in the scoring and passing games, the Huskies are looking to establish an early lead in only its second road game of the year.
Reid is surrounded by offensive weapons across the board, with Okem Chime and Moussa Wade, (last game’s hero) as well as a supporting cast of Mateo Leveque and Dominic Laws also chipping in goals of their own to power UConn to their own good start.
While goalkeeper Jahmali Waite has not been tested as much in terms of saves compared to DePaul’s Cruz (only 12 saves), the graduate student from Philadelphia will look to keep up his hot stretch of clean sheets after notching four already this season. The Huskies will look to keep the amount of opportunities for Waite as they take their talents on the road against DePaul. The Huskies and Blue Demons have split their four lifetime meetings 2-2, with UConn taking the last matchup 4-0 before moving to the American Athletic Conference a decade ago.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET Saturday at Chicago’s Wish Field.
