The UConn women’s soccer team is set to head to Morgantown, W. Va., to take on the No. 8-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers on Sunday.
The Huskies are coming off a dominant win over Long Island University with a score of 5-1 on Sept. 6. After an early fifth-minute goal by Long Island, the Huskies scored five unanswered goals, led by a pair of goals from freshman Maeve Staunton and goals from sophomore Maree-Anne Van Doesburg, junior Se-Hanna Mars and fifth-year Tea Reyes.
Undefeated at 5-0, the Mountaineers head into Sunday’s match after a 1-0 win against Marshall on Sept. 6. In those five games, West Virginia has conceded only two goals, one of which was to No. 23 Penn State. That stout defensive unit has protected redshirt senior goalkeeper Bailey Herfurth, surrendering just eight total shots across those five matches.
Freshman Lily Onorato has protected the net for the Huskies this season. The New York native has picked up 13 saves over the first five games this season. Sophomore Ava Yamas, who led the Big East last season with 10 shutouts, has seen the field for just 13 minutes this season. Yamas was a key piece to the Huskies’ success as UConn finished the regular season on a seven-game unbeaten streak.
This will be the 19th matchup between the former Big East rivals, with the last match coming in favor of West Virginia by a score of 2-1 in 2011. West Virginia moved to the Big 12 in 2012 after being in the Big East for 17 years. The two teams met in the 2008 Big East semifinal, where the Huskies knocked off the regular-season champions out of the tournament in penalty kicks.
Having scored just four goals over their first four matches this season, Sunday’s sudden five-goal explosion against LIU may have finally broken the seal for the Huskies’ attack. Restoring offensive momentum at the right time could prove crucial as UConn looks to carry that goal-scoring rhythm into Morgantown for their toughest test of the non-conference slate. Without their leading goal scorer from last season in Chioma Okafor, UConn will turn to its younger core to get the ball rolling, and Staunton is tied for the team lead with two goals.
The Huskies will attempt to hand the No. 8 Mountaineers their first loss of the season when action gets underway on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.