UConn Prepares for Virginia Tech

Huskies Striving for sixth NCAA Semifinal Appearence

December 7, 2007

By Nick Williams

Who: Virginia Tech at UConn
What: NCAA Men’s Soccer Quarterfinals
Where: Storrs, Connecticut
When: Saturday, Dec. 8 – 1:00p.m.

While this is the first-ever Elite Eight appearance for 11th-seeded Virginia Tech, UConn has reached the NCAA quarterfinals 10 times in its storied history, three times under Ray Reid.

And while the Huskies have won just half of those games (including a 2—1 mark with Reid), they are playing at Morrone Stadium, where they’ve won 13 of the last 14 NCAA Tournament games played there.

Julius James

Julius James and the Huskies are makign their 11th NCAA Quarterfinals appearence.

In fact, the Huskies had an 11-game unbeaten streak on their home field snapped last season in a first-round loss to Fairfield. So as UConn tries to advance to its sixth semifinal game in quest of the program’s third national title, the team will need to start another streak at home.

In terms of current streaks, the third-seeded Huskies ride an eight-game win streak into Saturday’s title with their former BIG EAST foe. The two sides have meet three times since 2001 and UConn has won all three games.

But this is a much different Virginia Tech program than in years past. The 2007 Hokies boast a 13-3-5 record this season and earned the No. 8 ranking in the nation. Va. Tech also features the country’s fifth-highest scoring offence, tallying 2.38 goals per game behind Robert Edmans and Ben Nason.

The Huskies, meanwhile, finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA/adidas poll and No. 1 in the Soccer America rankings, while going 20-2-1 en route to their 10th straight and 28th overall NCAA Tournament appearance.

A win would match UConn’s highest win total in history, tying the 1980 team’s mark of 21. To do that, the Huskies will have to get a big game from BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year and Hermann Trophy semifinalist O'Brian White.

White leads the Husky attack that has outscored opponents 53-12 through 23 games, by scoring 53 points off 23 goals and seven assists. He also leads the BIG EAST and NCAA in points and goals scored. White assured his place in the UConn record books by scoring three goals in UConn’s 5-0 win over South Florida in the NCAA Third Round last Sunday.

Sophomore Mike Pezza leads the NCAA in assists with 19 on the season, including 10 on game-winning goals ... Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Josh Ford has earned 14 shutouts between the pipes and is second all-time in clean sheets and first in season wins (20).

All-American and Hermann Trophy semifinalist Julius James and the UConn defense have been just as impressive, notching 14 shutouts through 23 games (0.61/third in the NCAA) and allowed just 12 goals on the year.

Another MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, Patrick Nyarko, scored the game-winning goal for Virginia Tech in the Hokies 1-0 third-round win over Old Dominion, which upset Brown earlier in the tournament, last Sunday. The All-ACC First Team midfielder has dished out a team-high 10 assists this season, mostly to Edmans and Nason.

Nason and Edmans, both All-ACC Second Team selections, are tied for the team lead with seven goals apiece. In net, Markus Aigner brings stability, owning a 1.04 goals-against average and .742 save percentage.

His counterpart at the other end, the Huskies’ Josh Ford, has been equally impressive. Ford has stopped 84 percent of shots faced this season, good for a 0.51 GAA.

The winner of Saturday afternoon’s match will advance to the NCAA College Cup semifinals in Cary, N.C., to take on the winner of the 10th-seeded Notre Dame at second-seeded Wake Forest quarterfinal.

Material from school press releases was used in this report.

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