STORRS, Conn. – In a battle of ranked foes, No. 12 UConn defeated the 10th-ranked Saint Louis Billikens 2-1 Saturday night in men's soccer action at Morrone Stadium.
UConn (3-2-1) opened up a 2-0 lead before Billiken senior midfielder Alex Sweetin converted a second-half penalty kick to make it 2-1. Despite late energy from the Billikens searching for the equalizer, UConn held on for the victory.
"That is a good team, and it's hard to go on the road and give up two goals and expect to come back," SLU head coach Mike McGinty said. "I thought we played well though and stuck together. We showed a lot of spirit and a lot of fight. This game had the juice of a November postseason match, so it was a good learning experience."
The Huskies opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Cyle Larin fired from the top of the box.
UConn took the 1-0 advantage into halftime, and the Huskies made it 2-0 when Ethan Decker tallied off a free kick early in the second half.
The Billikens were awarded a PK at the 71:12 mark after a UConn player was called for a hand ball in the box. Sweetin converted, his first goal of the year, to make it 2-1 UConn.
SLU keeper Nick Shackelford made five saves, including several from close range in the second half to keep the Billikens in it.
SLU returns to action Saturday, Sept. 28, when it hosts Central Arkansas for Homecoming. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m., with fireworks occurring at halftime.
