University of Connecticut Athletics
White Leads Men's Soccer Past Dartmouth 2-1
10/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
STORRS, Conn. (October 15, 2008) - Senior captain O'Brian White (Scarborough, Ont.) scored both of the Huskies' goals as he led the No. 20/20 University of Connecticut men's soccer team over Dartmouth College 2-1 in non-conference action on Wednesday night at Morrone Stadium.
The win improves the Huskies overall record to 6-3-4 while Dartmouth falls to 6-4-1 on the year. This is the third consecutive win over the Big Green for the Huskies as UConn defeated Dartmouth in both the 2000 and 1995 seasons.
At 17:31 in the first half of play, freshman Tony Casio (Gilbert, Ariz.) broke through three defenders and led senior Akeem Priestley (Kingston, Jamaica) up the near side of the field with a pass before Priestley found White in the center of the box with a cross. White found an opening in the net and drilled in his fifth goal of the season.
The game-winning goal came at 73:36 as Casio found White again in front of the net with a pass from the right side of the box. White was able to gain control of the ball and drill it into the back of the net to put the Huskies up 2-1. White's goal was his team leading sixth of the season and 46th career.
Despite two early shots on goal by the Big Green's Lucky Mkosana, the Huskies controlled the tempo and speed of the contest while attacking the Dartmouth defense, recording four shots on goal. In a span on two minutes Mkosana had two shots on goal but was halted by two leaping saves from UConn goalkeeper, Josh Ford (Liverpool, N.Y.). Ford has allowed eight goals this season for a 0.57 goals allowed average. He has 49 saves this season as he picked up five against the Big Green.
Dartmouth's lone goal of the game came in the 22nd minute as Andrew Olsen used a corner kick to place the ball in front of the net where his teammate, Donnie Surdoval, was able head the ball just out of the reach of Ford.
Four minutes into the second half of action, Priestley drilled the ball towards the goal but Big Green's Sean Milligan was able to get his hands on it to keep the game tied after the break. In the 55th minute of play White used a great move at the top of the box to fake out his defenders but his shot missed just high of the cross bar. With less than 17 minutes remaining White was able to connect for UConn's game winning goal to give the Huskies their sixth victory of the season.
Late in the game with the Huskies holding a 2-1 advantage, Dartmouth's Pumi Maqubela had a look at the net on a free kick but a jumping Dori Arad (Hahotrim, Israel) was able to head the ball and clear it out of the box.
Casio finished the game with two points on two assists, his career-high point tally in a single-game. Dartmouth's Milligan finished the game with two saves in 90 minutes played.
The Huskies will next travel to Milwaukee, Wisc. to take on BIG EAST Conference opponent Marquette for an 8:05 p.m. (EST) start on Saturday, Oct. 18. Last season the Huskies defeated the Golden Eagles 2-1 in overtime as it was just their fourth match-up in program history.
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