On Thursday night, the UConn women’s soccer team took on the Rhode Island Rams. The Huskies have had the Rhode Island’s number, taking down the Rams in 10 straight matchups. Although the scoreline did not tell the story, this matchup went back and forth, with constant stops on the defensive side for both squads.
In the 16th minute of the match, junior Alexandra Taylor received a throw-in at midfield and attacked the Rhode Island defense. Taylor drove the ball into the corner and whipped in a cross to a wide-open Chioma Okafor. Okafor took advantage of the Rams’ defensive miscue with a header straight into the back of the net. It is the senior’s second goal of the season, and Taylor ‘s assist is the first of her career. Just moments later, Taylor had to check out of the game with an apparent leg injury. Okafor was all over the field throughout the game, chasing every loose ball. In the second half, the Malawi native blazed past multiple Rams’ defenders, sending the ball to Mars at the top of the box. Mars sent in the shot and nearly made a highlight play of the night.
Just five minutes later, Rhode Island went on the attack and found a wide-open Lauren MacDonald on a through ball. MacDonald had all day to decide and crossed it to an uncovered Jill Rosenfield, who sent the ball over the bar, missing their best opportunity of the match. The Rams had multiple missed crosses in the first half. The Huskies ensured the Rams could not succeed again.
The Huskies stepped up their defensive play at the midpoint of the first half. Each time the Rams had an open player, two Huskies would swarm the ball. UConn would clear the ball, but Rhode Island would refuse to let up, as they kept the attack. From then on, each time the Rams tried to break through the Husky defense, they were stopped by UConn.
UConn went on the attack once again in the 28th minute as Okafor sent a pass-through midfield to a darting Anaya Johnson. The junior had a near break at net but was swiftly taken out by Sarah Yee on the defensive side, halting the break. The Huskies had very few chances for the rest of the half, with a late corner kick getting pinballed around into Taylor Jenkins’ foot, which was saved by Rams’ keeper Dani Eden.
Moments later, Mie Carstensen noticed MacDonald start to break for the UConn half and sent a perfect pass, splitting the Husky defense. MacDonald had nothing but green grass ahead of her as she had just goalkeeper Ava Yamas ahead of her. MacDonald fired a shot right at Yamas and made the save. Yamas finished the night with five saves.
Two minutes into the second half, Se-Hanna Mars went from the Husky third of the field and dribbled past her defender and outran the Ram defense all the way down to the box. The sophomore rifled a pass to senior Abbey Merchant, finishing off the beautiful play from Mars to give UConn a comfortable 2-0 lead. Merchant tallies her first goal of the season while Mars also gets in on her first assist of the season.
The first half was very action-packed compared to the deadlocked second half. Tempers flared, with Rhode Island junior Aida Name receiving a yellow card in the 76th minute. The full-time whistle blew, and the Huskies shut out the Rams, 2-0. This is their fourth shutout of the season.
This win improves UConn’s record to 3-2-1, putting them back to .500. The Huskies extended their winning streak against Rhode Island to 11. UConn takes on Maine Sunday afternoon, looking for its third straight win. It will be the Huskies’ final matchup before Big East play begins.