The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/4/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Matt Lin Midfielder Toni Stahl tries to fake out a Stony Brook defender. Stahl's energy and effort was one of the highlights in UConn's 1-0 victory over the Seawolves.

Late in the second half of the UConn men's soccer game, Toni Stahl soared into the air at midfield trying to get his head on the incoming soccer ball. Instead of finding the ball, he found the back of a Stony Brook defender's head.

Stahl stumbled to the ground and eventually made it to the sideline. But all the while the Goal Patrol, UConn's soccer fan base, was supporting Stahl, singing his name to the beat of The Beatles' song "Yellow Submarine."

That was the most action the game had seen to that point.

Minutes later, the No. 3 Huskies got the only goal they needed to beat Stony Brook 1-0. It wasn't a Husky that scored the goal; it was a Seawolf. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't easy. But it was a win.

"They tried to grind this game out to a tie," said head coach Ray Reid. "I'm not happy, but we got the win and we had a chance for other goals, so now we have to get ready for Boston University."

In the first period of play, the Huskies tried to put the ball in the middle of the field to O'Brian White. But when he touched the ball, Stony Brook defenders swarmed him. And at the end of the first half, it was starting to frustrate the team, Reid said.

"They did a good job on me tonight," White said. "They were all over me. But the [teammates] keep supporting and Coach tells us each game is going to be like this. It was a combination we're not used to, so it kind of gave us a problem in the first half, but we adjusted for the second half."

At halftime, Reid was simply telling his players to wait for their moment.

"That's the whole idea, to try and frustrate you," Reid said. "I told [the team] to relax and be patient and you'll get your chance, and they did."

The Huskies came out of the intermission on the attack. In the 74th minute, they finally got the goal they needed.

Mike Pezza had a throw in from the left sideline, parallel to the goal box. Stahl went up for an attempted header but ducked out before it reached him. UConn's Tony Cascio was behind Stahl but missed his chance at the ball. Two Stony Brook players then took their attempt at the ball, and after an awkward bounce off their heads, the ball found its way to the back of the net.

Continued...

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