Men's Soccer Takes BIG EAST Championship on Penalty Kicks
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Boxscore [.pdf]
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Nov. 14) – The
University of Connecticut men’s soccer team won its fifth BIG EAST
Tournament Championship in school history on Sunday as it defeated
Seton Hall in penalty kicks by a 5-3 count after the two teams played
to a 0-0 tie through regulation and double overtime.
The Huskies become the third school to win both the BIG
EAST men’s and women’s tournament in the same year as Notre Dame achieved the
feat in 1996 and St. John’s in 1994. The game puts UConn’s record at 11-7-3 on
the season and will be recorded as a tie for both teams.
After regulation and overtime, UConn made all five of its
penalty kicks which were scored by seniors Stephen Arias (Bakersfield,
Calif.) and William Osorio (Miami, Fla.), juniors Mpho Moloi
(Soweto, South Africa) and Willis Forko (Houston, Texas) and freshman
Karl Schilling (Canton, Conn.). Seton Hall only made three of the four
penalty kicks that it attempted.
UConn sophomore Steve Sealy (St. James, Trinidad)
was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player while Schilling was
named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
To open the contest, Seton Hall threatened in the 28th
minute of the first half, but UConn goalkeeper Adam Schuerman
(Brookfield, Wis.) turned aside Sacha Klijestan’s free kick opportunity with a
fingertip save to preserve the scoreless deadlock through the first half.
The Huskies came out of halftime with several second half
opportunities .The first came in the 52nd minute as a ball fed in
front was narrowly missed by Forko as Pirates goalkeeper Boris Pardo managed to
diffuse the play. Sealy fired off two shots, one from the right side of the box
and another on a redirection, but was unable to complete on either chance.
Another flurry of shots came off a UConn corner kick,
ending with Schilling going just wide of the left post at 83:10. Seton Hall put
four shots on goal in the second, all of which were stopped by Schuerman.
For the game, the Pirates out-shot the Huskies 16-6, with
Seton Hall also tallying a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
UConn will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA
Championship with the field for the tournament being announced on Monday, Nov.
15 at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN News.
Connecticut 0, Seton Hall 0 (UConn wins on PKs, 5-3)
Seton Hall 0 0 0
0 - 0
Connecticut 0 0 0 0 - 0
Scoring
1st Half – None.
2nd Half – None.
OT – None.
2nd OT – None.
Shots – UC 6, SHU 16
Saves – UC Adam Schuerman 6 (90:00); SHU Boris Pardo 2 (90:00).
Corner Kicks – UC 3, SHU 4
Fouls – UC 22, SHU 15
YC – UC Steve Sealy (30:31); SHU Mark Pedreikas (30:38); SHU Matt Salotti
(43:41); UC Karl Schilling (57:38).
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