University of Connecticut Athletics
Connecticut vs. Miami Game Notes
9/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
This week: After back-to-back BIG EAST wins over St. John’s and Virginia Tech, UConn will look to keep its momentum in a tough test Friday night against nationally-ranked Miami. UConn is 2-1 this season against opponents ranked in the NSCAA/adidas Poll, with wins over Hartford and Massachusetts and a loss to Penn State. The Huskies will then return home for a contest with Providence at Morrone Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Last Week: Playing for the first time in 10 days, the Connecticut women’s soccer team picked up where they left off, defeating St. John’s 5-0 on Wednesday and winning back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Huskies continued to roll in Sunday’s contest at Virginia Tech, defeating the Hokies 2-0 with two first half goals and solid defense.
Last Game: The Huskies welcomed Virginia Tech to the BIG EAST with a 2-0 win on Sunday to improve their conference record to 2-0-0. Sophomore Jessica Gjertsen got things going 10 minutes into the game with her fifth goal of the season, a blast from straight on from 14 yards out. At 30:35, freshman Kristen Graczyk, who assisted on Gjertsen’s goal, added one of her own for the 2-0 lead. The goal, which came on a header after the ball was popped straight up into the air by a defender, was her team-best sixth of the season. Goalkeepers Erin Rice and Shanna Caldwell made the lead stand. Rice played the first half and made two saves, including a sliding save on a breakaway in the 20th minute. Caldwell, making her second appearance of the season, played the second half and made four saves. The Huskies outshot the Hokies 14-9 and controlled play throughout most of the game.
Scouting the Hurricanes: Fourth-year head coach Jim Blankenship’s team has been impressive this season, to say the least. Originally picked to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Northeast Division in the conference preseason poll, the Hurricanes are 6-1 and right alongside Connecticut atop the division. Miami opened the season with five straight wins, including a 1-0 decision over nationally-ranked Florida, and moved into the NSCAA/adidas poll on Sept. 10 at No. 14. The Hurricanes then slipped against Florida International, losing 2-1 in overtime, but rebounded with a win on Sunday over No. 18 Syracuse 4-2. Sophomore Vonda Matthews and junior Laura West lead the team with four goals apiece, and junior Rachel Elsby has played every minute in goal and has pitched two shutouts.
The Series: Friday’s game will be the third between the Huskies and Hurricanes, a series that dates back to only 1999. Connecticut has won the previous two meetings, downing Miami 6-1 last season and 5-1 in 1999.
Last Meeting: The Huskies dominated the Hurricanes last season in a 6-1 game at Morrone Stadium in Storrs, CT. After Deidre Bass put Miami up a goal in the sixth minute, UConn retaliated with five goals in the next 30 minutes to take a commanding lead into halftime. Mary-Beth Bowie scored three goals in the game, her second hat trick of the season. Bowie also had an assist in the game, along with Sarah Popper, Kristin Gardiner and Lacey Toups. UConn outshot Miami 16-5 for the game.
Lock Down: UConn has certainly stepped things up on the defensive end in its last three games, producing shutouts against Georgia, St. John’s and Virginia Tech. In those games, the Huskies have allowed only a combined 18 shots and have made 13 saves. The defensive line–comprised of seniors Casey Zimny and Kristin Gardiner and juniors Lauren Naida and Naima Montacer–is primarily responsible, evidenced further by the fact that UConn hasn’t allowed a corner kick during the span. Connecticut also shut out Massachusetts on Sept. 5 in a 5-0 decision.
BIG EAST Bonanza: The Huskies are undefeated in their last 32 regular season BIG EAST games. After posting back-to-back 5-0 records the last two years and a 10-0-1 record in 1998, you have to go back to Oct. 26, 1997 to find UConn’s last BIG EAST loss. Connecticut fell 1-0 at Notre Dame that day and has yet to lose a BIG EAST regular season game since. Since going to divisional play in 1999, the BIG EAST counts only interdivisional games toward each team’s final BIG EAST record. UConn has lost only one game to a conference opponent during this stretch (Notre Dame on Oct. 22, 1999), but it did not count toward their conference record since Notre Dame is in the Mid-Atlantic Division.
How’s This For Openers: With the win over St. John’s on Sept. 19, UConn moved to a perfect 7-0 in BIG EAST regular season openers since the conference began keeping official standings in 1995.
National Team News: Senior Mary-Beth Bowie returned to the UConn lineup for Sunday’s game after spending the week with the Canadian National team. However, the midfielder from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia got less than she bargained for. Originally slated for two games against China last week, the team was left without an opponent after China backed out due to the terrorist attacks in the USA. Head Coach Even Pellerud, already in Saskatoon with his players, decided instead to hold a training camp and play an exhibition game against Saskatchewan’s Canada Games men’s team.
Dynamic Duo: A couple of newcomers have really paced the Huskies in the first seven games of the season. Freshman Kristen Graczyk and sophomore transfer Jessica Gjertsen have combined for 11 of Connecticut’s 17 goals this season, and each have netted goals in four of UConn’s contests (Hartford, Massachusetts, St. John’s and Virginia Tech). Three of Gjertsen’s five goals have also been game winners. Graczyk leads both the team and the conference in scoring with six goals and two assists for 14 points.
Gjertsen, Graczyk Earn Honors: Forwards Jessica Gjertsen and Kristen Graczyk were named BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, by the conference on Monday. Gjertsen, a sophomore transfer from Memphis, notched two goals against St. John’s in the Huskies’ 5-0 rout on Sept. 19 and followed it up with a score against Virginia Tech on Sept. 23. Graczyk, a freshman from La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, NM, also scored three goals this week. Like Gjertsen, she netted a pair of goals against St. John’s and another against Virginia Tech. Graczyk also recorded an assist on Gjertsen’s game-winning goal against the Hokies. This week’s awards mark the second time this season each has earned conference honors (see below).
BIG EAST Players of the Week
Offensive Player of the Week:
September 24-Jessica Gjertsen (Connecticut)
Chrissie Abbott (West Virginia)
September 10-Sarah Rahko (Boston College)
September 3-Jessica Gjertsen (Connecticut)
Defensive Player of the Week:
September 24-Michelle Biehl (Villanova)
September 10-Deidre Bass (Miami)
September 3-Vanessa Pruzinsky (Notre Dame)
Goalkeeper of the Week:
Rachel Brown (Pittsburgh)
September 10-Rachel Elsby (Miami)
September 3-Liz Wagner (Notre Dame)
Rookie of the Week:
September 24-Kristen Graczyk (Connecticut)
September 10-Kristen Graczyk (Connecticut)
September 3-Carli Lloyd (Rutgers)
First Impression: Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Rice must have made an impression in the preseason. Without a single collegiate start to her credit before this year, she’s started in all seven of UConn’s games thus far. Against Virginia Tech on Sunday, she made two saves while playing only the first half and made a sliding save in the 20th minute on a breakaway to keep the shutout alive. She also stands third in the BIG EAST in goals against average at 0.82 and has yet to give up a goal in a conference game. Against Georgia, she played the entire game and made four saves to clinch her first solo shutout. In her first-ever start against Hartford, she made five saves en route to the win, including a diving stop in the 65th minute to keep the game tied at 1-1.
Summer Fling: Senior defender Casey Zimny spent her time off from school a little differently than most of her peers. This summer, she was one of 18 members of the United States Under-21 National Team. Under head coach Jerry Smith, the U.S. won the Nordic Cup title for the third straight year and its fourth in five years. The annual Nordic Cup Tournament serves as the top competition in the world for the U-21 women.
Keeping Focused: Casey Zimny wasn’t the only UConn player competing over the summer. Several Huskies kept their games sharp by playing for W-League teams during the break. Members of the Boston squad earned an added bonus–the Renegades finished an exhilarating run through the postseason by winning the W-1 League National Championship title game.
BIG EAST Preseason Awards: In a preseason poll of conference coaches, the Huskies were picked to win the 2001 BIG EAST Northeast Division regular season title. Connecticut senior Casey Zimny was chosen BIG EAST Preseason Co-Defensive Player of the Year, sharing the honor with Notre Dame’s Vanessa Pruzinsky. Also joining Zimny on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team was senior forward Mary-Beth Bowie, the team’s leading scorer last season.
Zimny Earns More Honors: In addition to BIG EAST accolades, Casey Zimny was also named a College Soccer Online Preseason All-America Honorable Mention. Having started and played in all 26 games last season, Zimny and the UConn defense held opponents to 0.8 goals and 7.7 shots per game and shut out the opposition 14 times.
Bigger is Better: The NCAA Executive Committee has approved the expansion of the field for the Division I women’s soccer championship, effective with the 2001 tournament. The women’s bracket will expand from 48 to 64 teams, with 28 conferences being awarded an automatic berth and the remaining 36 teams receiving at-large bids. In 1998, the tournament expanded from 32 teams to 48.
Looking Back to Last Season: The new millennium saw the Huskies pick up where they left off in the last one, as UConn compiled a 17-7-2 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 19th straight year. After upsetting No. 2 nationally-ranked Nebraska to advance to its eighth consecutive quarterfinal appearance, UConn fell to eventual champion North Carolina 3-0. The Huskies also won their second straight BIG EAST Northeast Division title and went to the BIG EAST Tournament final for the sixth consecutive year.
In the Polls: After going 2-0 last week, the Huskies held steady at No. 11 in this week’s NSCAA/adidas Poll. Notre Dame also held steadfast at No. 4, while Miami and Syracuse each dropped spots to No. 17 and 23, respectively. The BIG EAST, however, saw another of its teams crack the Top 25. West Virginia broke into the poll with a double-overtime, 2-1 win over nationally-ranked Auburn and a 2-0 victory over Rutgers. UConn has already played three ranked teams this season, and as of now they have five games left against ranked opponents: Miami on Sept. 28, Syracuse on Oct. 5, West Virginia on Oct. 12, William & Mary (No. 22) on Oct. 14 and Notre Dame on Oct. 21. UConn also stands atop the Northeast regional rankings, with Syracuse at No. 2 and Massachusetts at No. 3.
