The UConn Huskies men's soccer team is an intercollegiate
varsity sports team of the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...
. The team is a member of the
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...
of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA).
History
Connecticut soccer existed prior to 1969, but was not considered a major sport and did not even have a real stadium. However, in 1969,
Joe Morrone was hired as head coach, and made significant changes that would make the Huskies a premiere program. He started by building
Connecticut Soccer Stadium, which now bears his name as Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. Eventually, in Morrone's words, the team became "the
Notre Dame of college soccer". Morrone would ultimately coach the team until he retired in 1994.
In 1981, the Huskies won their first NCAA-sanctioned College Cup, defeating Alabama A&M 2–1 in overtime at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. The Huskies also won a title in 1948, although that was before the NCAA. The Huskies, under coach Ray Reid, would win their second title in 2000, beating Creighton 2–0 in
Charlotte.
However, in the latter part of the 2000s decade, the Huskies struggled in the NCAA Tournament, losing their openers on
penalty kicks in both 2009 and 2010. The Huskies would advance to the 2011 Quarterfinals, but PKs would once again prove to be their undoing, losing to
Charlotte at home in a shootout.
UConn's student section is known as the Goal Patrol, and , it is the largest in America with 540 members. The Goal Patrol is known for being very rowdy, and has made Morrone Stadium one of the toughest places to play. In 2011, College Soccer News ranked the rivalry between UConn and
St. John's as the sixth best college soccer rivalry in America.
College Soccer News Lists St. John's - UConn rivalry as sixth best
RedStormSports.com, May 10, 2011, retrieved September 4, 2011 Two Uconn players have been selected first overall by the MLS SuperDraft in consecutive years, Andre Blake in 2014 and MLS Rookie of the Year Award
The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22.
The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who ...
winner Cyle Larin
Cyle Christopher Larin (; born April 17, 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a striker or a left winger for La Liga club Mallorca and the Canada national team.
After playing college soccer for the UConn Huskies, Larin ...
in 2015. While other players such as Sergio Campbell (2015), Carlos Alvarez (2nd overall 2013), Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Tony Cascio in 2012 and Hermann Trophy
The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players.
History
In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...
winner O'Brian White
O'Brian White (born 14 December 1985) is a Jamaican former footballer who played as a forward. White played for Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and appeared internationally for the Jamaica national football team ...
in 2009 have been other recent MLS SuperDraft selections.
Stadium
UConn plays its home games at Morrone Stadium
Morrone Stadium, officially known as Ray Reid Field at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium is the on-campus stadium at University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut.
The 5,100-seat stadium was built in 1969. and has undergone many renovations since. Th ...
, a 5,100-capacity soccer-specific stadium
A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium whic ...
in Storrs, Connecticut
Storrs ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Mansfield, Connecticut, Mansfield in eastern Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The village is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, ...
.
Head coaches
References
External links
*
{{Dillon Stadium
1939 establishments in Connecticut