O'Brian White Controls Ball, Scores In Win

Offensive Explosion Keeps Pirates At Bay

By: Pat Parker

Posted: 10/9/06

O'Brian White and the men's soccer team's offense put on a dribbling clinic for the fans at Morrone Stadium Saturday as White would have one goal and one assist to lead the Huskies past Seton Hall, 3-1.

"We could have had four or five more goals," said head coach Ray Reid. "O'Brian and Kevin were both very good tonight."

The duo of Kevin Burns and White were on fire in the second half. Both would have multiple give-and-go runs, which would end up in multiple scoring chances that put the crowd on the edge of their seats, but they could not find the back of the net.

UConn (8-3-2, 6-1-1 in Big East) started out the game with a fury as the Huskies would have control of the ball for most of the first half.

UConn would use this time of possession to their advantage. White drove down the right side of the field and made a pass to the center of the box that deflected off a Seton Hall defender and went right to Mike Pezza, who then fed Ryan Cordeiro. He scorched the ball in the back of the net to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies would then let up on their attack and Seton Hall (7-5-1, 5-3-0 in Big East) was allowed to get right back in the game as they started putting pressure on the Huskies defense.

At the 18:13 mark, the Huskies were called for a foul in the box as Julius James and Ryan Cordiero knocked the Seton Hall forward down as he was taking a shot. The end result would be a penalty kick goal by Eliseo Gieufredi, which tied the game up.

After letting up the goal, the Huskies were kept in the corner by Seton Hall as the Pirates would keep the attack coming. Goalie Matt Sangeloty would make some impressive saves, however, to keep the game tied.

"[Sangeloty] is doing a good job," Reid said. "He's going to be one of the keys for us down the stretch."

The Huskies seemed to wake up and go back on attack after a Seton Hall goal was called back on a hand ball at the 30th minute. It wasn't called by the referee, but the nearside line judge called the referee over to explain what happened and the goal was disallowed.

After this play, the magic between White and Burns started to appear. They would make a couple give-and-go runs down the field before the half ended.

White and Burns went on a counterattack run in the 39th minute after Seton Hall just pushed to try to score their own goal and the duo caught the defense napping. Burns would pass back to White, who blasted past the Seton Hall goalie to give the Huskies the 2-1 lead.

"Not many guys can stay with the front of our team when we get going," Reid said. "O'Brian White tonight for me was spectacular. That's how he should play every night."

White's three points Saturday gives him 12 points to lead the team.

The Huskies would continue the offensive dominance in the second half and would keep the fans, and according to Reid the players sitting on the bench, on the edge of their seats as White would continue to make one-on-one moves to get great scoring chances. The Pirates' goalie, however, would put up a wall.

"Instead of getting frustrated, I would just keep trying to get back," White said, and he kept demanding the ball and he would set up the final scoring chance of the game as a penalty was called during an attacking run by the Huskies at 39:21.

Akeem Priestley took the free kick and set the ball perfectly in the corner of the box where Toni Stahl scissor-kicked it past the Seton Hall goalkeeper. The goal gave the Huskies a commanding 3-1 lead.

The Huskies will play their final non-conference game of the regular season Tuesday when they host Wake Forest.