Oct. 26, 2011

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STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut proved why they've been the nation's top-ranked men's soccer team for most of the season Wednesday night with a 3-0 victory over Marquette University in front of nearly 3,000 fans at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium.

Despite the loss, Marquette (8-7-2, 6-2-0 BIG EAST) remains in first place in the Blue Division standings with 18 points in league matches heading into Saturday's final regular season game at Valley Fields, as had already secured at least one home game in the upcoming BIG EAST tournament.

The Golden Eagles would still clinch its first division title with a home win Saturday against Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Connecticut (14-1-2, 5-1-2 BIG EAST) moves into second place with Wednesday night's victory, one point behind MU.

"We knew the first 25 minutes would be really important in this game," MU head coach Louis Bennett said. "I don't think we were quite up to speed. We gave the ball away quite a bit, and we were just a day late and a dollar short."

UConn used its size advantage to create mismatches throughout the evening, especially winning balls in the air. Allando Matheson gave UConn and early 1-0 lead when he volleyed a low cross from Mamadou Diouf inside the right post past a diving David Check in the ninth minute.

Diouf then headed in a cross served to the far post from Stephane Diop in the 20th minute to make it 2-0, where the score would stand going into halftime.

Marquette managed five shots in the first half. Perhaps MU's best opportunity to get one back came on a through ball in the 33rd minute by Adam Lysak that found Amilcar Herrera inside the box that Herrera flicked over the cross bar.

In the 55th minute, Diouf tallied his second goal of the night by splitting a pair of MU defenders and beat Check one-on-one in the 55th minute to give the Huskies their largest lead of the evening.

Herrera had another crack in the 78th minute when the ball found him near post. But Herrera's shot went off the face of a UConn defender for a team save.

There were a total of 31 shots taken in the match, 14 by the Golden Eagles, including six shots on goal. Check finished with five saves between the posts for MU.

This Saturday's (Oct. 29) regular season finale at Valley Fields against Pittsburgh will kick off at 7:05 p.m. Central time.

Marquette Starters: Check; Holowaty, Dillon, Alfano, Pothast; Ciesiulka, Mallace, Robb; Selvaggi, Jansson, Nortey (Subs: Huftalin, Herrera, Lysak, Mau, Lyon)

UConn Starters: Blake, A.; Mercado, Blake, N., Jeanbaptiste, Wasserman; Diop, Alvarez, Bradley, Sanchez; Matheson, Diouf (Subs: Karppinen, Goodridge, Weir, Cascio, O'Brien, Leeman)

 Marquette (8-7-2, 6-2-0 BIGEAST) vs. Connecticut (14-1-2, 5-1-2BIGEAST)
 Date: Oct 26, 2011  Attendance: 2975
 Weather: Low 50's

 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 Marquette...........  0  0 -  0
 Connecticut.........  2  1 -  3
 
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.   8:19 UCONN MATHESON, Allando (4) (DIOUF,Mamadou;BLAKE,Nickardo) - Low cross from right side, slotted near post
  2.  19:12 UCONN DIOUF,Mamadou (9) (DIOP,Stephane;MATHESON, Allando) - Cross from left side, header by 23 into left side
  3.  54:59 UCONN DIOUF,Mamadou (10) (DIOP,Stephane;WEIR,Sean) - Bending ball from left side over defense, shot through keeper's legs

 Shots: Marquette 14, Connecticut 17
 Saves: Marquette 5 (Check, David 5), Connecticut 6 (BLAKE, Andre 5;
 TEAM 1)