UConn Women’s Soccer Beats CCSU, 3-0

UConn Women’s Soccer picked up their first win of 2017 on Sunday in the finale of the CCSU Tournament, with a 3-0 win over the CCSU Blue Devils at the CCSU Soccer Field.

Kess Elmore scored twice and Sabrina Toole also grabbed a goal, each of them scoring for the first time on the season. Mollie Kerrigan made two saves to earn the shutout.

The Huskies had not scored since their first match of the year, playing 302 minutes without a goal while taking losses to Yale, No. 15 Rutgers and St. John’s. Against the Blue Devils, they made sure to score early and play from the front for the first time in 2017.

Just 40 seconds into the contest, Elmore scored her first goal of the season to make it 1-0 UConn. The Huskies got a long throw in from deep in the offensive third and Liane Keegans put it into the six-yard box. Elmore was there to put a shot by CCSU goalkeeper Ashley Cavanaugh for the early advantage.

After the goal, UConn and CCSU each settled in for what turned out to be a pretty balanced half. The Blue Devils led in corner kicks, 3-to-1, but the Huskies put more shots on target by a 4-to-1 margin. They led 5-to-4 in shots as well.

Despite UConn getting more of the shots, possession was balanced and play was very back-and-forth. The Huskies would hold the ball and potentially see a chance to score, then CCSU would take over and do the same, with neither team dominating for a long stretch of time.

In the second half, that narrative change. The Huskies scored another early goal, again from Elmore and never looked back. Elena Santos sent a cross in from right to left and Elmore’s shot got over Cavanaugh but under the crossbar to double their lead in the 55th minute.

Their positive momentum continued just five minutes later when they scored again, off of a corner kick. Vivien Beil sent a ball in from the left corner flag in the 60th minute and found Toole’s head just inside the near post for a third goal.

CCSU’s closest chance came in the 76th minute. Yo Tachibana got behind the Husky defense as well as behind Kerrigan, but Keegans was there to make a sliding save to preserve the shutout.

UConn (1-3-1) is back in action on Thursday night when they’ll host the Arkansas Razorbacks at Morrone Stadium with a 7 p.m. kickoff.