Box Score
RIVERDALE, N.Y.- The Manhattan College men's soccer team knows they will go through their series of ups and downs as a young team with a difficult schedule. Tuesday night's 6-0 defeat at the hands or shall we say feet, of the No. 10 ranked University of Connecticut Huskies is a clear result of the latter.
In the first ever meeting between the two schools, Connecticut scored three goals in each half and outshot the Jaspers 25-4, on their way to an easy victory at Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn. Five players accounted for the six tallies, with freshman forward Mamadou Diouf getting credit for two and assisting on one.
"We played well in the first half but were beaten by a very good Connecticut team, who will be on the right half of Divison I all year. We knew we'd be under pressure all night," coach Ashley Hammond said.
The match was over almost as quickly as it began. In the 3rd minute, Diouf found sophomore striker Stephane Diop, who unloaded a shot from the top of the box to make it 1-0 Connecticut.
Later in the half, the two Senegalese forwards collaborated for another score. On the attack, Diop found a streaking Diouf, who struck a ball just past the diving reach of Jasper's freshman goalkeeper Christopher Lands for a 2-0 advantage.
With Manhattan already on their heels, the Huskies delivered a knockout punch toward the end of the first 45 minutes (43rd) to remove any notion of a comeback. A mirror image of their second goal, Diouf used open space to create a scoring opportunity and put a shot through the left side of the net for a 3-0 lead.
In the second half, Connecticut would pad the score with three more in the 46th, 62nd and 81st minute, on goals by Huskies' sophomore Carlos Alvarez, junior Nikardo Blake and sophomore Sean Weir to finish a tremendous night for the Big East Conference power.
Connecticut senior goalkeeper Josh Ford recorded the shutout, making one save on a shot from Manhattan College freshman midfielder Daniel Festa.
The Green and White will regroup and head back on the road to take on Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. on Sunday. The kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
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