No. 18 Huskies Fall to No. 6 Hoosiers, 1-0

September 2, 2018

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Strong second half play by the UConn men’s soccer team ultimately fell short on Sunday night, as the No. 18 Huskies dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 6 Indiana at Jerry Yeagley Field in the final match of the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.

It was a 41st minute goal by Indiana’s Andrew Gutman off a corner kick that sank the Huskies (2-2-0), despite a solid performance in the last 45 minutes. With the loss, UConn falls to 0-2 on its first road trip of the season after Friday’s defeat against No. 24 Notre Dame.

Redshirt junior Dayonn Harris and junior Munir Saleh were both named to the 2018 Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic All-Tournament Team for their performances against the Irish and Hoosiers. Harris registered a pair of shots over the weekend, while Saleh played well at the midfield position.

Overall, the Huskies were outshot, 10-4 – but managed a 3-2 edge in shots on target in Sunday’s game. The Hoosiers held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks and cashed in just before halftime when Gutman headed in a cross from Trevor Swartz to make it 1-0 at the intermission.

Facing a 1-0 deficit, as well as an 8-2 shots edge for Indiana at the half, UConn silenced the crowd of 3,851 at Yeagley Field for the majority of the second half – mounting several offensive attacks resulting in three shots on goal. Indiana goalie Trey Muse made three saves in the shutout victory.

In the 64th minute, freshman Ibrahima Diop, who subbed in for senior Abdou Mbacke Thiam, gathered the ball and fired on goal just three minutes after checking into the game – nearly finding the equalizer for UConn, before the attempt was saved by Muse.

The Huskies held Indiana – the 2017 NCAA national runner-up – to just a pair of shots in the second half against redshirt junior goalie Austin Aviza, who made one save in the loss. He falls to 1-1 this season between the posts for UConn.

In the 70th and 74th minutes, redshirt senior Dylan Greenberg took corner kicks for UConn, with the latter finding the head of sophomore transfer Robin Lapert, but the shot was blocked before reaching Muse. Despite four corners in the second half for the Hoosiers, the Huskies held firm – keeping the perennial national power off the board in the final 45.

UConn’s best chance in the first half came in the 23rd minute, when Thiam launched a shot from about 40 yards away – trying to take advantage of Muse creeping out from the penalty box. The Indiana goalie managed to deflect the ball out of bounds, resulting in a UConn corner, but one that was cleared.

The Huskies fall to 3-4-1 all-time against Indiana. They return to home action on Saturday, Sept. 8 at Morrone Stadium to take on No. 22 Dartmouth, with kickoff at 7 p.m. and will look to snap a two-game losing skid.

 

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