University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Host Villanova and Georgetown At Morrone
10/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 1, 2009
STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut women's soccer team will host two BIG EAST games this weekend at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. First, the Huskies will take on Villanova on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by a game against Georgetown on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Friday's game is dubbed the "Good Will Game" and all fans that donate an article of clothing will be given free admission! On Sunday, it is "Unified Sports Day" at Morrone Stadium and there will be a free UConn giveaway at the game.
FOLLOW THE GAME: Gametracker and streaming video of the games are available through UConnHuskies.com.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA: The Wildcats are 8-1-2 on the season, 1-1 in BIG EAST play losing their only game of the year to Georgetown. They began the year on a seven-game unbeaten streak, with their only non-win coming against Nebraska (a 2-2 tie) in the Villanova Classic.
Currently the Wildcats are on a three-game unbeaten streak winning two over Fordham and Seton Hall, and tying #17 Rutgers.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 20th meeting between the two teams as the Huskies hold a 14-2-3 advantage in the series. The last game between the two teams came in 2006 at Villanova and the Wildcats pulled out the 1-0 victory on their home turf.
UConn went undefeated against Villanova for 17 games before earning their first loss against the Wildcats in 2003.
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN: The Hoyas are currently 7-2-1 on the season, 1-1-1 in BIG EAST play. They began their season on a four-game win streak, shutting out each of their opponents by a combined score of 15-0 before losing their first game of the year in overtime to a top-25 team in Santa Clara.
The Hoyas shut out their next three opponents but are currently on a three-game winless streak tying Penn falling to Rutgers and tying Seton Hall.
SERIES HISTORY: UConn and Georgetown have met 11 times in the past as the Huskies hold a 9-2 advantage in the series that began in 1995.
UConn won the first eight meetings between the two teams before falling twice in a row. The last two times that these two teams have met was in the postseason. Georgetown upset the higher seeded Huskies in the 2007 BIG EAST tournament but UConn had their payback last season upsetting Georgetown en route to their 10th BIG EAST Championship appearance.
LAST TIME OUT: The Huskies went 1-1 on the week falling to St. John's in overtime, 1-0, and downing Syracuse, 5-0.
Despite outshooting the Red Storm 17-6, UConn couldn't get anything to fall during regulation. St. John's sixth shot of the game and only second shot on goal got past UConn sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Dulski (Pittsford, N.Y.) to give the Red Storm the lead and the win in overtime on Thursday.
Sunday against Syracuse produced a completely different result for the Huskies. UConn came out firing and got five past the Syracuse goalkeeper to put together the most goals scored this season. Sophomore Jess Shufelt (Rochester, N.Y.) scored a career-high two goals in the victory while junior Erin Clark (Somers, Conn.) and sophomore Melissa Busque (St. Bruno, Quebec) each had a multi-point game. Busque earned the first penalty kick of her career and was successful knocking in the first PK for the Huskies this season.
ON THE WAY TO 500: Currently, the UConn women's soccer program has racked up 496 wins since the team was founded in 1979. The program has an outstanding win percentage (75.1%) losing just 150 games in 31 years.
Out of the 496 victories, 281 have come at home, 160 have come on the road and 55 have happened at neutral sites.
GOAL SCORING: The Huskies have outscored their opponents this season 21-9. The number of goals scored thus far into this season is triple the number the Huskies scored during 2008 when they were outscored 14-7, ten games into the season.
SPREADING THE LOVE: Ten different Huskies have recorded a goal this season out of the 21 goals scored. Six of those 10 have had multi-goal efforts on the season.
The goal total: Busque (4), Ruutu (4), Shufelt (3), Clark (2), Cunningham (2), Giddings (2), Diakun (1), Ebert (1), Fugowski (1), Garufi (1).
HUSKIES IN THE RANKINGS: During the week of Sept. 21., for the first time in the 2009 season, the University of Connecticut women's soccer team was ranked in three polls. The Huskies were ranked 25th in the NSCAA poll, 23rd in Soccer Times, and 16th in SoccerAmerica's Top-25.
The Huskies began the year ranked No. 21 in the Soccer America poll but fell out after dropping their first two games of the year to BYU and then No. 8 Penn State. Slowly but surely, the Huskies have been clawing their way back into the polls.
TAYLOR BACK ON TRACK: After helping the Huskies to a pair of shutouts during the weekend of Sept. 18 and 20, Brittany Taylor was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week.
It was the second time in her career that Taylor earned the weekly honors, the other time coming in 2007 when she was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year.
Taylor was also awarded the ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week award for her efforts.
GIDDINGS GETS THE GOALS (AND AWARDS): After her two goal performance against Wake Forest on September 13, England native Georgina Giddings received numerous awards for her efforts. The two goals that Giddings scored in the game tied the amount of goals that Wake Forest had let up in their first seven games.
Giddings was named to TopDrawerSoccer's national team of the week as well as CS360's Primetime Players of the Week.
KEEPER OF THE WEEK: After shutting out Boston University for her first career shut out, tying her career high in saves (10) against No. 8 Wake Forest and going 2-0 in the process, keeper Jess Dulski was named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week.
Dulski was the first Husky to earn Goalkeeper of the week honors since Oct. 16, 2006 when Stephanie Labbe was honored.
THE INTERNATIONAL CONNECTION: Ruutu and sophomore Melissa Busque have been able to find each other on four of the Huskies 21 goals. The sophomore forward has recorded an assist on three of her freshman counterpart's goals.
Ruutu helped out Busque for the first time of the season in a crucial overtime goal to give the Huskies the win over Boston University.
Busque is a native of Quebec while Ruutu comes to the Huskies from Finland.
The two also are tied for the most goals among UConn players in 2009. Each has recorded four goals during the 2009 season.
TOP TEAMS: In the seven games the Huskies have played this season (including the exhibition against Boston College) they have already faced off against three- top-25 teams (BC, Penn State and Wake Forest) and against a team that dropped out of the polls right before playing the Huskies (BYU).
MEDIA INFORMATION:
Radio - UConn's campus radio station WHUS (91.7 FM) has broadcast all of the Husky women's soccer home games during the regular season, as well as selected road contests… WHUS' broadcasts can be heard live on the Internet at WHUS.org and will be linked to UConnHuskies.com.
E-MAIL - To receive updated on UConn Soccer, e-mail Betsy Devine at elizabeth.devine@uconn.edu with the message "Women's Soccer E-mail" as the subject.
WEB - Please visit UConnHuskies.com for up-to-date stories, stats, schedules and results, and other UConn athletic department information … Gametracker is available for the majority of women's soccer games, linked from the front page of UConn's athletic Web site.
ON THE TUBE: The Huskies have just one game on tv this season as Cox TV will broadcast the West Virginia game on 10/23.
