The UConn men’s soccer team is set to play their toughest scheduled opponent on Saturday, traveling down to Washington, D.C. to take on the No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas. It’ll be just the second game this season in which the Huskies played against a ranked team; however, it is coming in back-to-back games.
In their last matchup, UConn hosted ranked No. 15 Vermont at home, losing 2-0. Despite the score, UConn held its own against a tenacious Catamounts’ defense. The Huskies were on the attack for the majority of the game, even out shooting Vermont 15 to four, but they couldn’t crack the scoreboard. A first half goal gave the Catamounts the lead, then a late second half penalty kick put the nail in the coffin for Connecticut. The loss broke UConn’s five-game win streak at home and handed Vermont their sixth shutout of the season.
To no one’s surprise, Georgetown has played really well in 2023. They enter the game Saturday at 7-1-1 and have torched their way through the Big East competition so far. In three conference games, the Hoyas are undefeated and outscoring opponents nine to one. Their last game came against the Princeton Tigers in New Jersey. Zach Zengue (fourth goal), Jacob Murrell (eighth goal) and Joe Buck (third goal) scored to give the Hoyas the 3-0 victory. Goalie Tenzing Manke saved five shots enroute to his second clean sheet of 2023 in three games played.
This will be the best offensive attack the Huskies will face all season. Georgetown is currently fifth in the entire NCAA in scoring offense at 2.78 goals per game. Murrell leads the Hoyas offense with eight goals, which ties him for eighth best in the NCAA.
When the teams played each other last year, it was Georgetown that walked away with the victory. UConn outshot the Hoyas 16 to 5, but only had four shots on goal. Georgetown’s Jack Panayotou, now with the New England Revolution, scored a second half goal that proved to be all the Hoyas would need.
As a program, UConn hasn’t beat Georgetown since 2012, going 0-5-1 against them since then. This wouldn’t be the first time the Huskies overcame a huge losing streak if they were to beat the Hoyas. Earlier this season, UConn took down St. John’s for its first win against them since 2012, ending a five-game winless streak against the Red Storm.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. this Saturday and can be streamed on FloSports.
