University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
St. Francis (NY)
Men's Soccer Blanks St. Francis 2-0
9/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 1, 2010
STORRS, Conn. - The No. 10/22 University of Connecticut men's soccer team won its 2010 season opener with a 2-0 win over St. Francis (N.Y.) on Wednesday night at Morrone Stadium. Mamadou Doudou Diouf and Nickardo Blake both scored their first goals of the season to lift the Huskies to victory.
With the win, UConn improves to 48-25-4 in home openers and begins 2010 with a 1-0-0 record.
Josh Ford made three saves in net for his 40th career shutout in his 66th consecutive start for the Huskies. With the victory, he improves his tally to 43 wins in his career, which is fourth-best on UConn's all-time wins list.
Diouf scored his first goal as a Husky in the 55th minute as he took a pass from redshirt-freshman Colin Bradley and put the ball past a diving St. Francis goalkeeper, Curtis Julien. Sophomore Carlos Alvarez snuck the ball by two defenders into Bradley near midfield, who found Diouf on the near side of the field. Diouf one-timed the pass and found the back of the net to put UConn up 1-0.
The Huskies took a two-goal advantage in the 67th minute as Max Wasserman's corner kick found the head of a leaping Nickardo Blake just outside of the goal box. Two minutes prior to the goal, Wasserman and Blake attempted the same play on the previous corner kick but Julien made a great stop in net. On the save, UConn's Stephane Diop connected on the rebound but his shot from the left wing missed wide left.
In the 39th minute of the contest, St. Francis' Nick Baum was given a red card and had to leave the game after a dangerous slide tackle to UConn's Alan Ponce. With the card, UConn held a 1l-10 advantage on the field for the remainder of the contest.
Ponce had a good look in the 70th minute for the Huskies as he received a cross in the 18-yard box and fired a shot that hit off the post and back into play. He finished the night with two shots, including one on goal.
UConn outshot the Terriers 16-1 in the second half and 24-7 on the night. St. Francis' lone shot in the second half came with 4:30 left in regulation time as Robbie Weir connected on a shot from 20-yards out. His attempt, just his second of the contest, was grabbed by Ford, for his third stop of the night.
Julien allowed two goals on the night and made seven saves for the Terriers, who drop to 0-1-0 to open the 2010 season.
The Huskies return to action at Morrone Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 4 with a 7:30 p.m. match against Yale.
