UConn Sneaks Past No. 17 USF

Come From Behind to Win in Rain-Delayed Match

September 23, 2007

TAMPA, Fla. -- Chukwudi Chijindu's 71st minute goal gave the UConn men's soccer team a come-from-behind 2-1 win over No. 17 South Florida in a rain-delayed Big East contest in front of a USF record crowd of 2,431.

The game was delayed over two hours because of stormy weather, and it took over a half of soccer for the two undefeated teams to get adjusted.

The Huskies came back from down a goal to beat USF.

South Florida broke the scoreless tie in the 51st minute when Bernardo Anor sent a centering pass across the goal mouth, causing a defensive shuffle. Jordan Seabrook took advantage of the confusion and poked the ball into the back of the net from roughly three yards out for the 1-0 lead.

However, UConn’s O’Brian White, the Big East’s leading socrer, netted the equalizer some 14 minutes later off an assist from Mike Pezza. The NCAA-leader in assists sent a pass into the box from just outside the penalty area and White headed it into the far right side to erase the Huskies' first deficit of the season.

With the momentum in favor of the Huskies, Chijindu gave UConn the lead just about six minutes later, midway through the 70th minute, with a hard grounder into the right side from a pass by Ryan Cordeiro.

From there, the defense buckled down, thwarting several attempts by the Bulls to send the match into overtime.

With the win, the Huskies improve their flawless record to 7-0 and 2-0 in the Big East, while the Bulls absorb their first loss to go 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

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