The UConn women's soccer team went into this past weekend with a chance to make sure their seniors would have another opportunity to step foot on Morrone Stadium's field. After a winless weekend, that chance is now more distant than ever.
The Huskies tied West Virginia 0-0 on Friday night, and lost 1-0 in overtime on Sunday to the Pittsburgh Panthers in their final regular season home games. With the scoreless tie and loss, UConn must travel for the first round of the Big East tournament. They will head to Philadelphia for a Thursday matchup against Villanova. The semi-finals and championship are held here in Storrs, with the rest of the games being played at other campus sites.
With a couple of wins this weekend, the Huskies had a chance to play the opening round at home. But instead they must win on the road. The subpar weekend dropped UConn's overall record to 10-7-1, and 5-5-1 in conference play. After being undefeated all year at home, UConn suffered their first loss at Morrone Stadium during the last weekend of the regular season. The worst part was the loss came on a day when the Huskies' senior players were honored.
A ceremony took place for the five seniors prior to UConn's game against Pitt. Brittany Taylor, Jessica Diakun, Lauren Ebert, Brianna Gray and Annie Yi were honored with their families in front of the home crowd. Yi still has one year of eligibility remaining and will return next year after missing this year due to injury. The rest of the seniors did not have a happy ending in their final home game, but Gray, who struggled through injuries early in her career, will always cherish her years at UConn.
"I got off to a rough start and things didn't start off the way I wanted," Gray said. "But I've been part of great teams. The thing I'll take away from here is that the people have been amazing."
UConn now moves on to the postseason and will have some work to do in the conference tournament if they'd like to make the NCAA tournament.
"We have to play Thursday and we have to win," said coach Len Tsantiris. "That is [the situation] we put ourselves in."
"I think even though we haven't been doing well on the road we can step up now," Ebert said. "We don't want to have the Big East tournament here and not be in it."
Dulski bounces back
A bright spot for UConn came in between the posts, as sophomore goalkeeper Jessica Dulski rebounded nicely from a tough road trip. Dulski gave up nine goals in four games, during her and the Huskies' 1-3 road trip, falling to Marquette, South Florida and Notre Dame before defeating DePaul. The goalie gave up three goals in 58 minutes in a 6-1 loss to the Fighting Irish.
Upon returning home, Dulski returned to her successful midseason stride. The goalkeeper let in only one goal in more than 203 minutes. She recorded five saves each in both games, but the lack of offense did not help her. The Huskies went scoreless in the final weekend of the regular season, and Dulski went winless in net.
Friday night's tie was Dulski's fifth shutout of the season, and the goalkeeper was happy to bounce back after rough outings on the road.
"Of course traveling is really hard and Notre Dame is always tough," Dulski said. "It was rough having to deal with three losses but you just have to collect yourself, and play with confidence, and that is what I did."
Four of five shutouts have come at home for Dulski, and Tsantiris understands the rigors of traveling on the road and the comfort of playing at home.
"Everybody has a little more success at home," Tsantiris said. "There is a big advantage playing at home."
Dulski proved this weekend that she is an above-average goalkeeper and will turn the focus on the postseason.
Next Up
UConn puts their conference championship hopes, and maybe even season, on the line when they play the Villanova Wildcats in the opening round of the Big East tournament on Thursday.
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