University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Pittsburgh
UConn Blanks Pitt 2-0
10/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 31, 2010
Juho Karppinen scored two goals to lead the UConn men's soccer team over Pittsburgh, 2-0 at North Allegheny High School on Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, UConn improves its points' tally to 18 in the BIG EAST Blue Division standings and its record to 11-2-4 on the year.
With a Notre Dame loss or tie in its 6:00 p.m. Sunday night match against 2010 Blue Division Champion Georgetown, UConn will clinch a first round bye in the BIG EAST Tournament as the Huskies would finish the regular season in second place in the division. If the Irish win tonight's game, they will edge the Huskies in the standings and finish with 19 points for second place, pushing UConn to third. The BIG EAST will release the tournament bracket following the Notre Dame-Georgetown match this evening.
After UConn controlled possession for a majority of the first half, the Huskies came out even more aggressive after intermission.
In the 58th minute, Karppinen scored the game-winning goal as he got his foot on the ball in the goal box. Shawn Nicklaw played the ball into the box from the near side of the field, as Tony Cascio got his foot on it to redirect it to the far post where Karppinen connected for his first career goal.
UConn scored 2:48 later as a foul was called on Pitt to give UConn a penalty kick, the second for the Huskies all year. Karppinen took the attempt as he netted his second goal of the contest.
UConn outshot the Panthers 8-7 on the afternoon.
Josh Ford came up big with two saves as he earned his 53rd career victory to move into a tie with Matt Chavlovich (1996-99) for first place among UConn's all-time wins leaders. The win also marks UConn head coach Ray Reid's 199th victory while at UConn.
Log onto UConnHuskies.com tonight to find out the Huskies' seeding or for more information on the BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship log onto BIGEASTSoccer.com.
