University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Manhattan
No. 1 Huskies Drop Manhattan With Ease, 3-0
10/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 4, 2011
STORRS, Conn. - After back-to-back double-overtime victories, the Huskies earned a 3-0 result over Manhattan tonight at Morrone Stadium to improve to 11-0-0 (2-0-0 BIG EAST). Junior Carlos Alvarez scored the game-winning goal just four minutes into the action. The Huskies have now tied the program record with eight consecutive shutouts set in 2009.
UConn is steadily approaching the NCAA record of 11 consecutive shutouts. Freshman keeper Andre Blake earned the victory and extended his shutout streak to 770:56.
A well-executed breakout led to Alvarez putting UConn on top early with his third goal of the season at 4:01. Senior Tony Cascio collected the ball in the midfield and sent a through ball down the left line to junior Stephane Diop. Diop played an early ball in to Alvarez streaking into the top of the box. Alvarez took a quick touch to his left and bent the ball cleanly into the bottom-left corner.
The Huskies would make it 2-0 at 17:45 when sophomore Juho Karppinen put home his first of the season. Senior back Nickardo Blake made a long run down the right side and sent a cross into the box from the end line. Manhattan keeper George Ellis dove to clear the attempt but the ball bounced to Karppinen who couldn't miss from eight yards out.
Connecticut finished the scoring at 3-0 with Diop, the hero from UConn's 1-0 double-overtime victory at No. 8/9 Louisville last weekend, finishing a rebound in front. Diop fired a shot from the left side that hit off the post. The ball came to freshman Allando Matheson. Ellis made a nice save on Matheson but Diop was there to put home the rebound calmly past the sprawled keeper. Diop's goal was his second of the season.
The Huskies brought in several substitutions in the second half including; Flo Liu, Jonathan Goodridge, Chris O'Brien, Tyler Leeman, Thomas Palmer and Jake Bourgault. The Huskies were connecting passes throughout the final 45 minutes but failed to put home the finishing touch.
Liu was especially dangerous on the left side, sending several quality crosses into the box. Headers by Matheson and Leeman missed the target and UConn would end the game with a 3-0 victory.
Lionel Brown saw his first action of the season in net tonight but was never called into action as the Jaspers failed to test the senior keeper.
The Huskies dominated with a 21-8 edge in shots and a 9-1 advantage in corner kicks.
UConn will hit the road again against its fourth top-10 opponent of the season when it travels to South Bend to take on No. 10 Notre Dame. That game kicks off at noon on Saturday, October 8 and can be heard live at WHUS.org.
