A look around Big East women's soccer

After a 1-1 start in Big East play, the UConn women’s soccer team finds itself tied for third in the American division of the conference.

The American division is comprised of Providence, Marquette, Connecticut, Syracuse, USF, Pittsburgh, and St. John’s. The Friars are currently leading the division with a 2-0 conference record, with the Golden Eagles following closely behind at 1-0.

UConn fell to Syracuse in their Big East opener on September 13 by a score of 3-2 after the Orange scored the game-winning goal with only 30 seconds left in regulation.

The Huskies were able to bounce back with a Big East win in their next game against St. John’s with a commanding 5-1 victory in Storrs on Sunday afternoon. They were paced by a hat trick by redshirt freshman Andrea Plucenik.

With the win over St. John’s, the Huskies pulled even with the Orangemen with a 1-1 conference record.

In the National division of the conference, Georgetown and Notre Dame are both off to 2-0 starts at the top of the standings. Louisville, Seton Hall, Depaul, Villanova, Rutgers, and Cincinnati fill out the other half of the Big East.

All eight of the remaining games on the regular season schedule for the Huskies are Big East conference games, so they will have plenty of opportunities to work their way up the standings. Their next opportunity will provide a real challenge, however, when they travel to Washington, D.C., on Friday to take on the division-leading Georgetown Hoyas.

After the contest against Georgetown, UConn will travel to Villanova on Sunday afternoon before returning home for four consecutive Big East contests at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium (Depaul, Notre Dame, South Florida, Marquette).

The Huskies have garnered several Big East awards so far this season, with the most recent being Plucenik receiving the Rookie of the Week honor for her three goal effort against St. John’s. Last week, senior Danielle Schulmann was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week after a remarkable week that featured four goals and 11 total points. She was also honored for the week as Soccer News Net’s National Player of the Week as well as the ECAC Player of the Week.