Andy Shorten Scores For Yale
STORRS, Conn. – A trip to UConn's Morrone Stadium is
never an easy way to start the season, but when you have a young
team that is starting seven freshmen or sophomores, it makes it
even more difficult. That was the challenge the Yale men's
soccer team faced. The Bulldogs put up a good fight but dropped a
3-1 decision to the 10th-ranked Huskies before a crowd
of 3,787.
"Our inexperience showed at times, especially in the first
half," said Yale head coach Brian Tompkins. "I thought
we got better as the game went along. Our mentally to pursue the
game was very good."
Mamadou Diouf scored twice to lead UConn's attack. Andy
Shorten had the Yale goal.
Diouf got the Huskies on the board in the 10th minute
when he headed in Carlos Alvarez's free kick after a Yale
foul. UConn's second goal came off a corner kick. The ball
was cleared out, but it came to Jossimar Sanchez, who fired a shot
from 25 yards out that beat Yale goalkeeper Bobby Thalman.
Shorten got the Bulldogs on the board at 19:26 when he headed in
Tucker Kocher's cross. The assist was the first point of
Kocher's career.
Diouf's second goal late in the first half capped the
scoring.
Thalman, a sophomore, made his first career start in goal and
made six saves.
Josh Ford stopped one shot in goal for the Huskies.
"We'll learn from this," Tompkins said.
"The outcome was not what we wanted but we gave a good
effort."
The Bulldogs are back in action on Tuesday when they play at
Fairfield. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity
