Huskies Pick up First Big East Win

Wednesday, October 13

Storrs, Conn.

7:00pm

University of Connecticut

5-4-1, 1-3-1

Marquette University

5-6-1, 2-3-1

Marquette

UConn

10/13/2021 9:39:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Photo Gallery

STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's soccer team picked up their first conference win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Marquette on Wednesday night. The Huskies improve to 5-4-1 on the season and 1-3-1 in Big East play.

The first half was a defensive stalemate, with neither team creating a real chance on net. The Golden Eagles had a great chance to take a 1-0 lead in the 30^th minute, when a direct free kick hit the crossbar and went out of the play. The Huskies escaped another Marquette opportunity in the 33^rd minute when sophomore Josh Morgan made an important sliding challenge to put the Marquette striker off.

UConn took the lead in the 36^th minute when sophomore Ben Awashie tucked away a close-range finish for his first goal of the season and first goal of his UConn career. Freshman Mateo Leveque's corner found fellow freshman Bjorn Nikolajewski at the back post, who headed the ball back into the box where Awashie was able to finish.

"It's an awesome feeling, scoring my first goal for UConn and to give us a lead tonight," said Awashie. "I think we were ready to go tonight and we wanted to get our first [Big East] win. I'm happy to help the team in any way I can and just glad we got the result tonight."

The Huskies had a great chance to double their lead early in the second half. Sophomore Moussa Wade danced through the Marquette back line and created space on the goal line. His cross found the right foot of graduate student Felix Metzler at the back post, but the shot went just wide of the post.

In the 82^nd minute, Moussa Wade was fouled in the box and the referee awarded UConn a penalty. Wade stepped up to take the kick and placed the shot in the bottom left corner to double the Husky lead. Just a minute later, Marquette was awarded a penalty. The Golden Eagles converted and cut the UConn lead to 2-1. The Huskies held off a late rally to secure their first Big East win of the season.

As a team, the Huskies have been strong defensively, allowing just seven goals on the season. At the heart of the defense is Bjorn Nikolajewski, whose presence at the back has been vital to the team's defense success. "It's a great feeling to get the win tonight, we've worked so hard and we got the result we deserved. The effort was great and I'm so happy," said Nikolajewski. "We have another big game on Saturday so we have to keep going and keep getting the results."

Up Next

UConn returns home to host Creighton on Saturday, October 16^th. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00pm at Morrone Stadium.