University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Women's Soccer Releases 2010 Schedule
6/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
June 16, 2010
2010 Schedule
STORRS, Conn. - Len Tsantiris, in his 30th year as head coach of the University of Connecticut women's soccer team, announced the Huskies' 2010 schedule Wednesday. After making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history during the 2009 season, the Huskies will jump right back into a highly competitive schedule in 2010.
The Huskies begin their year off with an exhibition game against Boston College at home on Saturday, August 14. The Eagles finished the 2009 season ranked in seventh place after falling to Stanford, the national runner-up in the NCAA Tournament.
UConn's regular season will begin a little more than a week later on Sunday, August 22 against Siena. The Saints and Huskies will meet for the first time in program history at Morrone Stadium. They are the first of three teams that UConn will see for the first time in 2010. In season opener's the Huskies are 22-7-2 and 25-4-2 in home openers at Morrone Stadium.
The following weekend on August 27 and 29, the Huskies head to the Penn State Tournament for the third-straight year where they will face off against William and Mary and Virginia. It will be the Huskies' first meeting with the Tribe on in 31 years as a varsity program. Last season William and Mary took wins from ranked opponents BYU and Utah. Virginia finished out the 2009 season ranked in 19th after falling to College Cup team UCLA in the third round of the tournament. This will be the fifth time that the two teams have met, and the first since 1993. Currently the series is tied at 2-2.
UConn will return home the following weekend where they will host Illinois and Penn State in the first weekend of a five-game homestand. The Huskies will first take on the Fighting Illini on September 3. It will be the first time that the two teams have ever matched up. On September 5, Connecticut will face off against Penn State for the 13th time in program history. The Nittany Lions, who finished 2009 ranked 22nd, currently hold an 8-3-1 edge in the series and earned a close 3-2 victory over UConn in University Park last fall.
The Huskies begin competition with cross-state rivals Yale and Central Connecticut the following weekend. They begin with a Thursday night meeting with Yale on September 9 where they will look to improve upon their 22-2-2 series lead. UConn will finish out the weekend taking on Central Connecticut for the 10th time in program history. The Huskies hold a 8-1 series lead, falling just once in 2008 to the Blue Devils.
Connecticut will round out its homestand against their first BIG EAST competitor of the season, Providence on September 17 at 7 p.m. The Huskies are undefeated against the Friars in regular season play holding an overall series record of 27-1, falling just once in BIG EAST play. UConn's weekend will finish with their final non-conference game of the season at Boston University on Sunday, September 19. The Huskies earned two, 1-0 decisions from the Terriers in 2009. Both games were won by the Huskies in overtime and the second victory of the two games came with less than three minutes remaining in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Huskies will host their second Thursday night meeting against St. John's in their 19th meeting with their BIG EAST rival. UConn holds the 14-3-1 lead in the series but suffered a tough 1-0 overtime loss to the Red Storm last season. They will wrap up their weekend on the road in Syracuse on Sunday, September 26 where they will look to remain undefeated against the Orange and improve their series record to 16-0.
For the first time since 2007, the Huskies will take on Rutgers when they face the Scarlet Knights on the road the first of October. Rutgers finished 2009 ranked 16th after defeating Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament but falling to South Carolina in the second. UConn will continue their trip to New Jersey with a Sunday meeting at Seton Hall. UConn will look to go a perfect 10-0 against the Pirates in their first meeting since 2007.
UConn returns home for a four-game homestand where they will face some tough BIG EAST competition in Marquette (Oct. 8), South Florida (Oct. 10), Notre Dame (Oct. 15) and DePaul (Oct. 17). Marquette finished 2009 receiving votes while the Fighting Irish were ranked fourth to round out the 2009 season after falling to the eventual champions North Carolina in the College Cup for the second-straight season. The Huskies' Senior Day will fall on October 17 against DePaul where the Huskies will honor their seven seniors and look to remain undefeated against the Blue Demons.
The Huskies regular season will end on the road at West Virginia and Pittsburgh. UConn will faceoff at West Virginia in a Friday night meeting The three teams have been evenly matched in the last two seasons as they have come away with three-straight ties since 2008 [0-0(2008), 1-1(2008), and 0-0 (2009)]. UConn will finish their regular season at Pittsburgh on Sunday, October 24.
The BIG EAST Championship will be held in Piscataway, N.J. on November 5 and 7 for the fifth time and the first time since 2003.
