UConn Men’s Soccer Poised for Another Successful Season

UConn men’s soccer did well last season, making it to the American Athletic Conference final before winning a game in the NCAA Tournament against Boston University. A loss to Indiana in the second round ended a season in which the Huskies finished with a record of 10-6-6.

The Huskies retain much of their talent from last year. The only losses are Fredrik Jonsson, who started 15 games as a freshman and transferred to Colgate, and Tyler Leeman and Istvan Kanyo due to graduation.

Out of UConn’s 26 goals last season, all but one was scored by returning players. The Huskies also return goalkeeper Scott Levene, who only allowed 18 goals and had seven clean sheets last year. Ray Reid’s squad also returns three all-conference players: Jake Nerwinski and Kwame Awuah were both on the first team while Abdou Mbacke Thiam was on the second team. Defender Dylan Greenberg also returns after missing almost all of last season with injury.

The UConn Blog had a chance to speak with Coach Ray Reid talked about the upcoming season at Tuesday’s Media Day.

"The expectation is we are going to be ready for opening night and take it one game at a time," he said.

Reid sees Mbacke Thiam as someone poised for a productive season, especially after the sophomore scored two goals in the first preseason game against UMass.

"He’s a goal scorer," Reid said. "He has a nose for the goal. He knows how to play with his back to the game and he’s a dangerous guy."

Senior captain Jake Nerwinski was open about his expectations for the upcoming season.

"We want to win some rings," he said.

UConn finishes the exhibition season with a match against Rutgers on Saturday, 7 p.m., at Morrone Stadium. The regular season begins on August 26 at Morrone against Iona. The conference schedule opens on September 24 at Morrone Stadium against Temple with kickoff coming at 7 p.m.