The post-season continues for the Huskies’ women’s soccer and field hockey teams this week, as they enter the NCAA Championships.
The soccer team will travel to Boston College to face Hofstra on Friday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament. The No. 5 field hockey team will square off against American University in College Park, Md., in the first round of the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Head coach Len Tsanstiris’ soccer team, which posted a 10-9-3 record this year, will be led by senior co-captains Kacey Richards, a central defender, and Elise Fugowski, an attacking center-midfielder, who both were named to the 2010 All-Big East first team. The Huskies reached the semi-finals of the Big East Tournament, falling to West Virginia by a 2-0 score on Nov. 5.
Hofstra stands at 18-2 on the season after losing 2-0 to James Madison in the finals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championships. Hofstra is ranked No. 23 in the latest Soccer America poll.
UConn is undefeated in four games against Hofstra with a 3-0-1 mark all-time. The Huskies last faced Hofstra in 2008, earning a 1-0 victory. This will be the first NCAA Tournament meeting between the two schools.
Five other Big East women’s soccer teams will participate in the 2010 NCAA Championship, including first-timer University of South Florida. Three schools will serve as host sites for the first-and second rounds: Notre Dame, Marquette, and West Virginia. Georgetown was also picked to round out the Big East contingent.
The Huskies field hockey team heads into the NCAA Championships with a record of 15-5. The team is led by senior defender Melissa Gonzalez and junior midfielder/forwards Ali Blankmeyer and Cara Silverman, who were each honored on the All-Big East Tournament team, following a 1-0 loss to Syracuse in the Big East Championship final, the team’s first home loss this season. American, with a record of 18-3, is the Patriot League champion.
Gonzalez was Defensive Player of the Year and freshman Sarah Mansfield was Goalkeeper of the Year in the Big East. Both were All-Big East first team selections, along with junior back Rayell Heistand and freshman forward Anne Jeute. Blankmeyer and Silverman were second team All-Big East selections.
Meanwhile, Ray Reid’s No. 9 men’s soccer team, which lost to Cincinnati in a 4-1 shootout in the quarterfinals of the Big East Championships and stands with a record of 12-2-5, will learn its NCAA fate on Monday, when the brackets for the 2010 NCAA College Cup bracket will be announced at 4:30 p.m. live on ESPNU. The 48-team field will begin play with the first round of the tournament on Thursday, Nov. 18.
