Box Score STORRS, Conn. – The men's soccer team played 66 minutes of tough, scoreless soccer in their first road test of the season on Monday night, but it was the Connecticut Huskies that struck first and ultimately took the game, 2-0.
The Huskies broke the deadlock at the 66:26 mark when they capitalized on a free-kick opportunity. With the ball just outside the 18-yard box, junior goalkeeper
Mitchell Meyer made the initial save by pushing the ball off the crossbar, but Andrew Geres controlled the rebound and put the ball in the back of the net with his left foot. The Huskies would make it 2-0 in the 72nd minute when Nick Zuniga collected the ball in the box and poked it home through traffic.
Both teams struggled to create opportunities in the first half. With winds blowing up to 25 miles per hour, it was difficult for either team to connect on deep passes.
The Big Red created a chance 20 minutes in to play when senior
Madison Heck stood over a free kick from 40 yards out. Heck's ball found junior
Spencer Kopko's head, but the ball sailed over the crossbar and out for a goal kick.
Connecticut (3-1-0) had a few chances in the first half, but the Cornell (0-1-1) defense and Meyer kept the attack at bay. Kwame Awuah sent a cross to the far post in the waning minutes, but Meyer did well to collect it before it could find Abdou Mbacke Thiam's head.
The Big Red offense came out in the second half firing. Five minutes in,
Ryan Watters had a free kick from 30 yards out that bounced around a few heads and again Kopko was able to get a head on it, but Cornell was unable to pounce on the loose rebound. Freshman
George Pedlow was able to turn on the ball and fire a shot on goal a few minutes later, but Scott Levene was able to make the save.
Meyer denied Connecticut's attempt to go up 3-0 in the 80th minute when he made a diving save to his right on a Huskies' penalty kick. The Big Red keeper finished with three saves.
The Huskies outshot Cornell, 13-4, on the night.
The team next heads to the head to the D.C. area on Friday for games against George Mason (Sept. 9) and American (Sept. 11) in the Capitol Cup.
