UConn men's soccer to be tested on road at Marquette

The No. 2 UConn men’s soccer team began its toughest road trip of the season by handing No. 3 Georgetown its first loss of the year. Sophomore Allando Matheson’s goal in the 64th minute was enough to down the Hoyas 2-1 as the Huskies preserved an undefeated season and improved to 10-0-1, 3-0-0 in the conference.

Preseason conference Offensive Player of the Year Mamadou Doudou Diouf scored the first goal of the game on a free kick in the 39th minute. The goal was his eighth of the season, tied for the most in the Big East. Matheson is right behind, scoring six goals this year while primarily coming off the bench.

All-American goalkeeper Andre Blake was peppered by the Georgetown attack in the first half. He was required to make six saves to keep a one-goal lead heading into halftime. In the first half, Georgetown outshot Connecticut 12-6 and attempted five corner kicks, while UConn did not have one. Blake made several spectacular saves to deny Georgetown’s leading goal scorer Brandon Allen. Blake boasts a conference-best 0.36 goals against average and has delivered six shutouts.

With wins over Yale and Notre Dame last week, Carlos Alvarez was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week. His fifth goal of the season came in the first half on a penalty kick agianst Notre Dame. Senior Flo Liu was named to the honor roll after his first career goal in the win over the Irish.

The path does not get easier for the Huskies. They face No. 9 Marquette in Milwaukee tomorrow night at 8 p.m. The Golden Eagles have an unblemished record of 10-0-0, 2-0-0 in the Big East and are tied with Connecticut atop the Big East Blue Division standings.

Marquette defeated in-state rival Wisconsin and conference foe Providence last week to earn double digit wins for the first time since 2002. The Golden Eagles were selected to finish fourth after winning the Blue Division last year.

The Huskies have dominated the all-time series against Marquette, posting a 7-0-1 record including a 3-0 win last year in Storrs. Since then, Marquette has not lost a regular season match and are 18-3-1 in its last 22 games.

Both teams have scored 23 goals this season, the most in the Big East other than Syracuse (26). The showdown may be the biggest game in Division I men’s soccer thus far, as the winner will likely go on to be the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament.

This year, UConn has allowed a conference-best four goals, two in the last two games. Marquette goalkeeper Charlie Lyon has played every minute in net for the Golden Eagles and has only let five balls get past him.

Marquette has seven players who have scored multiple goals in 2012 and 12 players who have recorded at least one point.