University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Syracuse
Dominant Huskies Blank Orange 5-0
9/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 27, 2009
STORRS, Conn. - Led by sophomore Jessica Shufelt (Rochester, N.Y.), the No. 25/16 University of Connecticut women's soccer team put together one of their best games of the season. The Huskies scored a season-high five goals in the wet conditions, with Shufelt recording a career-high two goals on the day.
With the victory, the Huskies improve to 7-3-0 on the year, 2-1-0 in the BIG EAST. Syracuse falls below .500 to 4-5-2, 1-2-0 in the BIG EAST.
Sophomore Linda Ruutu (Espoo, Finland) started things off for the Huskies recording the first goal of the game in the 27th minute of play. Junior Erin Clark (Somers, Conn.) sent a pass to the right side of the box where Ruutu juked past a defender and sent a shot to the lower right corner of the goal.
Just nine minutes later, in the 36th minute, Shufelt put her first goal on the board to boost the Husky lead to two before the end of the first half. After two quick passes from sophomore Melissa Busque (St. Bruno, Quebec) and freshman Georgina Giddings (Feltham, England), Shufelt rounded up the ball and sent a long distance strike from 25 yards out that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into the goal.
At the beginning of the second half, the Huskies earned their first penalty kick of the season. During a free kick, Busque was held by one of the Syracuse defenders in the box, drawing the foul and earning her first try at a penalty kick during her collegiate career. Busque easily sent the shot past the Syracuse goalkeeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan in the 50th minute for the Huskies third goal of the game.
UConn kept piling the points on when Shufelt notched her second goal of the game. A quick pass from Clark drew Bennett-Hattan out of the goal. Shufelt corralled the pass and took another long shot that lasered over the head of the retreating Bennett-Hattan to give the Huskies a 4-0 lead.
UConn's fifth goal of the season came from sophomore Alex Garufi (Milton, Mass.) who was playing in the second game of her college career. Off of a free kick pass from senior Brittany Taylor (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) near midfield, Garufi snagged the ball and tapped it in from the left side of the goal past a diving Bennett-Hattan to earn the first goal of her career.
The Huskies will host their first game in the month of October when Villanova comes into Storrs next Friday, October 2 at 7 p.m.
