UConn women's soccer set to take on Villanova and No. 20 Georgetown

The UConn women’s soccer team will have an opportunity to climb their way up the Big East standings this weekend when they face a pair of in-conference foes, No. 20 Georgetown and Villanova. The Huskies enter the weekend with a 5-3-1 overall record and are 1-1 in conference play.

Historically, UConn has dominated Georgetown, boasting a 10-2-0 all-time record against the Hoyas. However, Georgetown has gotten off to one of the strongest starts in program history with an 8-1-1 record, including 2-0 in the Big East. Aside from a 6-0 defeat at the hands of No. 5 Stanford, they have only allowed three goals on the year.

Anchoring their stingy defense is goalkeeper Emma Newins, who has posted an .826 save percentage in her debut season.

UConn will counter Newins and the formidable Hoya defense with an offense that has been firing on all cylinders. The Huskies lead the conference with 168 shots, 7.67 points per game and 2.78 goals per game. Georgetown is second in the three major offensive categories.

Leading the UConn offensive attack is senior Danielle Schumann, who has been the most prolific scorer in the conference this season. She is leading the Big East with 24 points, 9 goals and is second in assists, with 6. She was recognized two weeks ago with several accolades for her eleven-point week, including Big East Player of the Week, Soccer News Net’s National Player of the Week and the ECAC Player of the Week.

UConn will look to receive additional offensive input from Andrea Plucenik, who is fresh off of a hat trick last Sunday against St. Johns in a 5-1 victory. Plucenik, a redshirt freshman, is second in the team with nine points four goals and one assist.

After the highly anticipated contest in the Capital on Friday evening, UConn will travel to Villanova to face the Wildcats on Sunday afternoon.

Villanova is off to a 3-5-2 start this season, including 1-1 in conference play. They have showed flashes of brilliance so far, most notably in a 2-1 upset victory in overtime against then No. 16 Rutgers last weekend. However, they followed up the big win with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Seton Hall two days later.

The Huskies also have an impressive historical record against the Wildcats, owning a 14-2-3 alltime record against them. Villanova won the most recent contest in 2006, hanging on for a 1-0 victory.