UConn men beat St. Peters 2-0

STORRS, Conn. - Junior Alan Ponce scored the Huskies' first goal of the season as well as his first goal in a UConn jersey en route to leading the University of Connecticut men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory in its season opener on Wednesday night at Morrone Stadium.


UConn entered tonight's contest ranked 12th in the NSCAA/adidas Poll and 13th in the Soccer America Preseason Poll and with the result, the Huskies jump to a 1-0 record to start off the 2009 season.

Both UConn goals came in the second half as the Huskies found the back of the net twice in a span of just under four minutes. Ponce's first career goal came at the 59:13 mark and put the Huskies up for good. Senior Kwame Watson-Siriboe found the back of the net at the 62:38 mark for his first career goal as well with the Huskies.


UConn was aggressive throughout the night, while in the first half of play, just under five minutes into the match; UConn junior Shawn Nicklaw crossed the ball into the box from right in front of the Huskies' bench to a leaping Tony Cascio. In the air Cascio tried to head the ball but St. Peter's Carlos Suarez came out of the net and stole the ball out of Cascio's reach.


The Huskies continued to be insistent on offensive in the first half as Ponce crossed the ball from the corner arc to find Cascio again at the top of the box. Another header attempt by the sophomore was stopped by a St. Peter's defender who was able to contact the ball first to clear it away from UConn's attacking forwards.


Ponce had a good look of his own in the sixth minute but his shot missed wide of the diving Suarez. Freshman Carlos Alvarez then recorded his first shot of the game in the 10th minute but it was blocked by a Peacock back.

In the 15th minute, Nicklaw found an opening between two defenders but his shot missed high, just off target. UConn out-shot the Peacocks 5-1 in the first half before going into the break with a 0-0 tie.


UConn continued its offensive attack in the second half, scoring the only two goals of the match, while out-shooting St. Peter's 15-2.

After his shot in the 51st minute was blocked by a Peacock defender, Ponce answered back as he headed a cross from Cascio over Suarez and into the back of the net to put UConn up 1-0. After a whistle, senior Mike Pezza, who finished the night with two assists, took a free kick just shy of midfield and placed it perfectly at the head of Watson-Siriboe, who leaped in traffic and headed the ball right past multiple St. Peter's players to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.


The Huskies did not stop looking for scoring opportunities after going up 2-0 as they recorded three more shots before the end of regulation, including two from Pezza, who missed just wide of the target in the 76th minute of play. Cascio had another good look but Suarez was able to make his second save of the night as he halted the sophomore's chance to add another goal for the Huskies.


The UConn defense was outstanding as they allowed just two shots for the Peacocks, while holding them to just one shot on goal. Josh Ford made a diving save in the 84th minute after St. Peter's Udi Naim drilled a free kick towards the net. For their efforts, the Huskies earned their first shutout of the season, while Ford picked up one save on the night.


UConn will return to action as they host No. 23/24 Boston University on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 8:00 p.m. in Morrone Stadium. It is also Tailgate Night and fans will receive UConn fan items for participating as well as an opportunity to get autographs from the UConn men's soccer team after the match.