Spring Break
Women's soccer begins NCAA Tourney
Matt McDonough
Issue date: 11/13/09 Section: Sports
The UConn women's soccer team takes on Boston University tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The match will take place in Newton, Mass., on the Boston College campus. The Huskies take part in the tournament for the 27th time in 28 years, and make a return to the field of 64 after missing out last year.
UConn will face the winner of the Boston College-Harvard game on Sunday, should they advance. But first the Huskies have to get by the Terriers.
The opponent, BU, is a familiar one. UConn defeated the Terriers 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 11, thanks to a game-winning goal off the foot of sophomore Melissa Busque. But that was the UConn Classic in Storrs, and this is the NCAA tournament.
UConn then went on to win against then-undefeated Wake Forest, and continued that streak in six of its next seven games. However, after that great stretch of soccer the Huskies fell on tough times, and are currently in a seven-game slump, going winless in six of those matches. A Husky player has not scored a goal since Oct. 18 at DePaul. They went scoreless the last weekend of the regular season, tying West Virginia 0-0 and losing to Pittsburgh in overtime 1-0 at home. Their last goal came in the opening round of the Big East tournament when a Villanova player knocked the ball in her own net. The score was tied 1-1 before going into penalty kicks, where the Wildcats eliminated the Huskies 4-1.
The Huskies enter the contest with a 10-7-2 record and have a 3-2 lead over BU in the series history. But the Terriers are not the same team that lost in Storrs. BU is riding a five-game win streak, and just won the America East Conference tournament for the third straight season. They finished the regular season 14-5-2 and since the loss to UConn, the Terriers have gone 12-3.
Notre Dame, Marquette, Rutgers, West Virginia, St. John's and Villanova are the other Big East teams that join UConn in the national tournament. With the Huskies early exit in the first round of the Big East tournament, UConn will have fresh legs for the NCAA opening round. The Huskies did not take any team hardware home, but a few UConn players won individual awards at last week's tournament banquet. Senior Brittany Taylor was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the second time. She last won the award in 2007 and was also named to the All-Big East First Team. Kacey Richards was named to the third team and Linda Ruutu was named to both the second team and All-Big East Rookie Team. This week Taylor earned Second Team honors from TopDrawerSoccer
UConn will face the winner of the Boston College-Harvard game on Sunday, should they advance. But first the Huskies have to get by the Terriers.
The opponent, BU, is a familiar one. UConn defeated the Terriers 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 11, thanks to a game-winning goal off the foot of sophomore Melissa Busque. But that was the UConn Classic in Storrs, and this is the NCAA tournament.
UConn then went on to win against then-undefeated Wake Forest, and continued that streak in six of its next seven games. However, after that great stretch of soccer the Huskies fell on tough times, and are currently in a seven-game slump, going winless in six of those matches. A Husky player has not scored a goal since Oct. 18 at DePaul. They went scoreless the last weekend of the regular season, tying West Virginia 0-0 and losing to Pittsburgh in overtime 1-0 at home. Their last goal came in the opening round of the Big East tournament when a Villanova player knocked the ball in her own net. The score was tied 1-1 before going into penalty kicks, where the Wildcats eliminated the Huskies 4-1.
The Huskies enter the contest with a 10-7-2 record and have a 3-2 lead over BU in the series history. But the Terriers are not the same team that lost in Storrs. BU is riding a five-game win streak, and just won the America East Conference tournament for the third straight season. They finished the regular season 14-5-2 and since the loss to UConn, the Terriers have gone 12-3.
Notre Dame, Marquette, Rutgers, West Virginia, St. John's and Villanova are the other Big East teams that join UConn in the national tournament. With the Huskies early exit in the first round of the Big East tournament, UConn will have fresh legs for the NCAA opening round. The Huskies did not take any team hardware home, but a few UConn players won individual awards at last week's tournament banquet. Senior Brittany Taylor was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the second time. She last won the award in 2007 and was also named to the All-Big East First Team. Kacey Richards was named to the third team and Linda Ruutu was named to both the second team and All-Big East Rookie Team. This week Taylor earned Second Team honors from TopDrawerSoccer
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