After a two-week road trip where the Huskies went 1-1, they are back on their home turf as they host the Yale Bulldogs. The 3-2-1 Bulldogs have had a pretty evenly distributed September as they have seen both the win and loss column increase throughout the first month of play. Yale has been strong in New Haven, as they continue to defend nicely when on their home grass with three wins and one tie. The two losses for the Bulldogs were both on the road, one against Kansas State that ended in a 0-1 loss for the Bulldogs and the other against Kansas University 1-4 and currently head into Friday’s game with a two game skid.
Key players to look out for in Yale’s lineup include sophomore goalkeeper Maya Bellomo who tallied 13 saves this past weekend. She had eight against Kansas on Sunday and is tied for an Ivy League-best at 32 saves through six games this season. Outside of the net, sophomore forward Ellie Rappole is the Ivy’s leading goal scorer with two goals and points (five) so far this season.
On the Huskies’ side of things, this will be their first home match since Aug. 28, where they beat UMass Lowell 5-0. With this being the last game before the opening of Big East play for Connecticut, it will be interesting to see what unfolds and if they are able maintain the momentum they had against CCSU last Sunday as they were able to hold them from getting on the board at all which resulted in 4-0.
Midfielder Abbey Jones has made her way onto the top of the stat sheet as she is now one of three people to have three goals on the roster thus far. She is in strong company as she shares the feat with forwards Maddie Carroll and Jada Konte. Now a month into the season and as roles continue to be refined, UConn must do some fine tuning before conference play opens up at Creighton next week.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday evening at Joseph M. Morrone Stadium and can also be viewed on FloSports.
