Spring Break
Women's soccer loses to end regular season
Mac Cerullo
Issue date: 10/26/09 Section: Sports
The women's soccer team didn't finish the regular season the way they had hoped. In the final weekend of regular season play before the Big East tournament, the Huskies were unable to score a single goal, only mustering a 0-0 tie against West Virginia Friday night before losing 1-0 in overtime to Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.
At the beginning of the weekend, the Huskies sat in 4th place in the Big East American Division and needed a good performance to solidify their position going into the Big East tournament. But with this weekend's result, the Huskies will remain in fourth place, finishing the season 5-5-1 in the Big East. As a result, the Huskies will open the Big East tournament on the road.
"If we think that we don't play well on the road, then we're not going to," senior forward Brianna Gray said following the loss to Pittsburgh. "We just need to take it for what it is and it's just a chance to keep going. No matter where we play we just have to play."
The Huskies gave themselves a great opportunity to boost their tournament credentials against West Virginia. The Huskies played a good game defensively and by midway through the second half they were controlling the pace of the game while bombarding the Mountaineers' net with shots.
West Virginia goalkeeper Kerri Butler had a fantastic game repeatedly denying the Huskies the deciding goal. In the first half, she made two diving saves to rob Melissa Busque of scores. In the final seconds of regulation Gray was robbed from making what would have been the game-winning goal, and in the final seconds of overtime, she again stopped the Huskies with a diving save on a shot by Elise Fugowski to preserve the scoreless tie.
With the tie and a loss to Pittsburgh, the Huskies clinched their Big East tournament berth. The opportunity still remained for the Huskies to jump USF in the standings if they could win their final regular season game.
As it turned out, Pittsburgh was done helping the Huskies. The Panthers shut down the Huskies' offense and did not allow them good scoring conditions the entire game. Although Pittsburgh was unable to score during regulation either, they quickly ended the game in overtime, scoring the game-winning goal roughly four minutes in. The goal was the first allowed by UConn goalie Jessica Dulski in more than 200 minutes, who played very well this weekend despite the team's inability to score.
"We aren't as sharp as we need to be," coach Len Tsantiris said. "Today we didn't pressure well, we didn't go forward, we didn't have the energy to do the things that we normally do, and we made a lot of mistakes and eventually they got a goal."
The loss was the first at home for the Huskies all season. They finished with a home record of 8-0-1. Now the Huskies must take to the road for the Big East tournament, where they will face Villanova in the third round on Thursday, Oct. 29.
At the beginning of the weekend, the Huskies sat in 4th place in the Big East American Division and needed a good performance to solidify their position going into the Big East tournament. But with this weekend's result, the Huskies will remain in fourth place, finishing the season 5-5-1 in the Big East. As a result, the Huskies will open the Big East tournament on the road.
"If we think that we don't play well on the road, then we're not going to," senior forward Brianna Gray said following the loss to Pittsburgh. "We just need to take it for what it is and it's just a chance to keep going. No matter where we play we just have to play."
The Huskies gave themselves a great opportunity to boost their tournament credentials against West Virginia. The Huskies played a good game defensively and by midway through the second half they were controlling the pace of the game while bombarding the Mountaineers' net with shots.
West Virginia goalkeeper Kerri Butler had a fantastic game repeatedly denying the Huskies the deciding goal. In the first half, she made two diving saves to rob Melissa Busque of scores. In the final seconds of regulation Gray was robbed from making what would have been the game-winning goal, and in the final seconds of overtime, she again stopped the Huskies with a diving save on a shot by Elise Fugowski to preserve the scoreless tie.
With the tie and a loss to Pittsburgh, the Huskies clinched their Big East tournament berth. The opportunity still remained for the Huskies to jump USF in the standings if they could win their final regular season game.
As it turned out, Pittsburgh was done helping the Huskies. The Panthers shut down the Huskies' offense and did not allow them good scoring conditions the entire game. Although Pittsburgh was unable to score during regulation either, they quickly ended the game in overtime, scoring the game-winning goal roughly four minutes in. The goal was the first allowed by UConn goalie Jessica Dulski in more than 200 minutes, who played very well this weekend despite the team's inability to score.
"We aren't as sharp as we need to be," coach Len Tsantiris said. "Today we didn't pressure well, we didn't go forward, we didn't have the energy to do the things that we normally do, and we made a lot of mistakes and eventually they got a goal."
The loss was the first at home for the Huskies all season. They finished with a home record of 8-0-1. Now the Huskies must take to the road for the Big East tournament, where they will face Villanova in the third round on Thursday, Oct. 29.
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