Huskies Shutout Virginia Tech, 2-0

STORRS, CT (October 30) – The University of Connecticut men’s soccer team notched two first half goals in the 23rd minute of play to clinch a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament on Wednesday evening. The Huskies blanked Virginia Tech, 2-0, at Morrone Stadium to improve to 12-4-0, 6-3-0 BIG EAST as the Hokies fell to 10-6-1, 5-4-0 in the conference.

Connecticut jumped out to a 2-0 in a 45-second time span in the middle of the first half. After an UConn corner kick taken by Anthony Curtis (Kingston, Jamaica), Stephen Arias (Bakersfield, CA) took a point-blank shot at Virginia Tech keeper Chase Harrison who deflected the shot out back into the box. Cesar Cuellar (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) hit the rebounded shot and tucked it away for the first goal of the game at the 22:05 mark. Damani Ralph (Kingston, Jamaica) notched his team-leading 14th goal of the season 45-seconds later. Andres Rota (Kingswood, TX) crossed the ball across field to Andrew McLeod (Kingston, Jamaica), who turned and took it up the right wing. He crossed the ball into the box and touched the ball past Harrison.

Virginia Tech’s best chance of the game came in the 30th-minute of the second half. Bobby O’Brien took a 30-yard shot that almost grazed over the top of UConn keeper Adam Schuerman’s (Brookfield, WI) hands. Schuerman was able to get a hold on it and pushed it out into the empty box.

Connecticut will play host to Syracuse University on Sunday, November 3 at 1:00 pm at Morrone Stadium. Before the start of the game, UConn’s seven seniors will be honored.