Storrs Side: Men's soccer set to appear on national television

The UConn campus is buzzing with excitement as the men’s soccer team prepares to hit the national stage when they play Washington on Friday night. The game will be covered by Fox Soccer Channel.

With a sellout crowd expected as usual, Friday night is expected to be an incredible show. Two of the nation’s top teams will battle in one of the most hostile environments in college soccer.

As always, the Goal Patrol will be a main feature at the game, but when they depart from Gampel Pavilion at 6:30 that evening, they will be joined by other proud members of the UConn community, including Jonathan, the famed UConn mascot, who will be leading the procession, followed closely by the UConn Drum Line.

Friday is expected to be a memorable night and students are excited for it.

“Televised games are always awesome,” said Matt Stypulkoski, a 5th-semester journalism and political science major and a leading member of the Goal Patrol, “I remember when we played USF; the crowd was electric. People know it’s on TV so they want to be crazy and let the country know what we’re all about. It’s always a great time and a great opportunity to support our boys.”
The Huskies, coming off a 1-0 victory at Michigan State, know that they will be on TV, but that there is still a big game to be won.

“It’s a pleasure to play on national television knowing that you will be seen by the world,” said sophomore Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake. “It’s great for me because my family who are back home and can’t come and watch me play will be able to at least watch me on national television this time around. Other than that it’s nothing that I haven’t done before and for me it’s just like another game with one difference; and that is it being televised live.”
For UConn, who are ranked No. 1 by Soccer America and No. 4 by the coaches’ poll, this will be the first televised regular season game since 2010. That season, the Huskies played three televised games. They defeated South Florida on ESPNU and West Virginia on SNY, but they drew against Notre Dame on Fox Soccer.