University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Soccer Tops Pittsburgh, 4-3
10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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INDIANOLA, Pa. (October 14, 2006) – Ryan Cordeiro (Highland Mills, N.Y.) scored two goals including the game-winner with just over two minutes to go, as the University of Connecticut men’s soccer defeated Pittsburgh 4-3 Saturday afternoon at Founders Field. With the win, the Huskies improve to 9-4-2 on the year and 7-1-1 in the BIG EAST, while the Panthers fall to 4-9-1 overall and 3-4-1 in the conference.
In addition to Cordeiro’s two goals, the junior forward tallied an assist, while Chukwudi Chijindu (Fontana, Calif.) and Akeem Priestley (Kingston, Jamaica) each put up additional scores for UConn.
The match started off in favor of the Huskies as they got two quick shots off from Julius James (Maloney Gardens, Trinidad) and O’Brian White (Scarborough, Ontario) within the first five minutes before Pittsburgh came back with a close one of its own when Tyler Hastianelli sent one into the crossbar. The next big piece of action came in the 29th minute when Cordeiro served the ball from the right side of the pitch into Chijindu who headed it into the upper right corner of the goal to start off scoring the Huskies.
Pittsburgh quickly counterattacked, but UConn’s defenders James, Karl Schilling (Canton, Conn.), Ryan Kerlew (Windsor, Conn.) and Richard Kentish (Kingston, Jamaica) forced Hastianelli’s second shot of the day high while protecting the open goal. The Huskies once again pushed back on the attack and came up with the second score of the day late in the 43rd minute when Chijindu drew the Panther’s keeper off his line and then quickly crossed the ball right to left, hitting Priestley about 10 yards out in the middle of the box. Priestley then turned and fired a shot into the lower left side to put UConn on top 2-0 as the first half wound down.
Coming into the second half with a two-goal lead for just the second time this season, the Huskies surrendered the first goal of the day just over six minutes into the frame when Sangeloty saved a shot by Pittsburgh’s Keeyan Young, but lost control of the rebound and gave possession back to the Panthers. Matt Langton then popped the loose ball into the back of the net to cut the lead in half at 2-1.
Just four minutes later, UConn stretched the lead back to two on an almost identical play to its opponent’s. White shot from the right side and the rebound off the keeper’s save went back into play and Cordeiro stuffed it in from point blank range to make the score 3-1.
The Panthers were not deterred, however, as they rattled off back-to-back goals over a 15-minute span to tie up the ballgame with 4:31 to go. Eric Jaeger scored the first off an assist from Shawn Wildman, followed by a tally from Brendan Smith in the 86th minute. Their comeback efforts were thwarted in the 88th minute when a Pittsburgh defender fouled inside the penalty area and the Huskies were awarded a PK attempt.
Pittsburgh’s Andy Jorgensen saved the shot by Schilling, but Cordeiro came through for the a second time with the follow-up, knocking the rebound into the back of the net to give the Huskies back the lead and ultimately the 4-3 win with 2:16 to play.
UConn returns to action Wednesday night at Marquette in a 7:00 p.m. (Central Time) contest. The Golden Eagles are 1-12-1 on the year and 0-8-0 in the BIG EAST.
