Freshman Preston Alessio came off the bench in the second half, assisted on one goal and scored the game-winner, as the UConn men’s soccer team defeated Akron, 2-1, in the Big East semifinal at Boyds, Md., Thursday night.
Alessio, from Beacon Falls, played at Taft School in Watertown, where he helped win a championship, was state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, a New England player of the year and a United Soccer coaches All-American in 2024. Now he’s had a first-year impact at UConn, as the Huskies close in on the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018, and first since Chris Gbandi took over as head coach.
“It’s the mentality, we talk a lot about competing, a lot about not giving up and this team has done that all year,” Gbandi said. “We talk about everybody stepping up. We made some substitutions for the second half to change the game and they certainly did a good job.”
UConn (11-3-4) rose from 21st to 12th in Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), and are all but assured a spot in the tournament, regardless of the result in the Big East Championship against Georgetown Sunday at noon. The conference could have as many as four, including Georgetown, Seton Hall and Akron in the 48-team College Cup field to be revealed Monday. The Huskies could also be considered for a first-round bye and the chance to host a second-round game.
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After a scoreless first half, Akron took a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute. The Huskies tied it 11 minutes later on Austin Brummett’s team-leading eighth goal of the season, assisted by Alessio and Ayoub Lajhar, who also came off the bench for the second half.
Huskies goal-keeper Kyle Durham stopped several dangerous Akron chances down the stretch, and the Huskies took the lead on Alessio’s third goal of the season, coming off perfectly places passes from Balthazar Saunders and Max Gummesson in the 71st minute. A red card left Akron to play with 10 over the last few minutes.
The Huskies face top-seeded Georgetown, ranked 11th nationally, for the conference’s automatic NCAA birth. The Hoyas beat UConn, 4-1, on Oct. 11.
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