While the University of Connecticut’s women’s soccer team (2-1-3) battled back after allowing an early goal to No. 10 West Virginia University (5-0-1), the effort wasn’t enough to pull off its first ranked win of the season.
Still, the Huskies salvaged a 1-1 draw on the road on Sunday against the Mountaineers.
While the Mountaineers struck first, West Virginia was largely quiet for the final 87 minutes of the match. Just 2:26 into the contest, senior forward Abbey Olexa sent a bouncing shot towards the bottom right corner of the goal that skipped over a diving freshman goalkeeper Lily Onorato to give West Virginia an immediate lead.
That was the second to last shot that West Virginia would place on goal in the first half, as the Huskies managed to keep Mountaineers’ attack at bay while intermittently threatening on the other end of the field. Still, the Huskies struggled to find the back of the net as the West Virginia backline consistently snuffed out any chances UConn created.
Though the Mountaineers outshot the Huskies 10 to nine on the day, UConn placed one more shot on net than West Virginia.
The Huskies also dominated the Mountaineers in corner kicks, doubling West Virginia’s three attempts with six of their own.
UConn finally converted the fifth of those opportunities into a score, as junior forward Chloe Shimkin delivered a ball that senior defender Jessica Carr headed towards the net. Freshman midfielder Maeve Staunton cleaned the play up and tapped the ball in to tie the game for the Huskies with 38:03 left to play.
The goal was Staunton’s third in two games.
While the Huskies had a few more chances before the end of regulation, including a hard shot on goal from sophomore midfielder Maree-Anne Van Doesburg, both goalies stood strong for the rest of the match to force the draw.
Onorato and sophomore netminder Ava Yamas combined for a solid performance in goal for the Huskies. After letting in the early score, Onorato stopped the only other shot attempt the Mountaineers located on goal in the first half, while Yamas made three saves in the second. The 45 minutes were the most action Yamas has seen in a contest this season.
All-Big 12 Preseason Team goalkeeper and redshirt senior Bailey Herfurth was similarly successful, making a season-high five saves.
Sophomore midfielder Ava Arnold and senior midfielder Anna Hauer were each credited with an assist on West Virginia’s goal, while Shimkin and Carr each notched one in the scorebook for UConn.
The tie snaps a two-game losing streak for the Huskies against the Mountaineers, whom they haven’t beaten since a 2-0 victory in Storrs on Oct. 14, 2007. Four of the last six contests against the two programs have ended in a tie, the only four in the 19-game history of the series dating back to when both schools were members of the Big East. UConn is 11-4-4 in the series.
Having survived UConn with a draw, West Virginia will enter Big 12 Conference play undefeated. The tie was the first non-win of the season for the Mountaineers.
The Huskies will wait a little longer to begin their own conference play, instead traveling to Cambridge, Mass. next Sunday, Sept. 20 to see the Harvard Crimson (5-2-1). Game time at Jordan Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The contest will stream live on ESPN+.