The UConn men’s soccer team has made its way back into the national picture, securing its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2018 — with a first-round bye and second-round home game.
The Huskies benefitted from playing in a strong soccer conference; the Big East has five teams in the field of 48. UConn’s 11-4-4 overall record, and 5-2-1 mark in the league and semifinal victory over Akron in the conference semifinal lifted the team into a strong position, 15th in the NCAA’s ratings-percentage index (RPI). As a result, UConn is seeded 13th, one of the 16 to get byes in the first round.
So UConn will play Sunday at 2 p.m. at Morrone Stadium in the round of 32, against either Cornell or Lafayette. If the Huskies advance, No. 4 Maryland, North Carolina and North Florida are possible Sweet 16 opponents next week.
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UConn won the national championship in 1948, during the pre-NCAA Tournament era, and won the Tournament in 1981 and 2000. Coach Chris Gbandi played on the 2000 championship team, which was honored early this season, and replaced Ray Reid as head coach in 2022.
“We believe we have a good enough group to get far in the Tournament,” Gbandi said, after UConn’s 3-1 loss to Georgetown in the Big East final on Sunday. “We have a good group from a mentality standpoint and hopefully we’ll bounce back.”
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Austin Brummett, a transfer from San Diego State, leads UConn with eight goals and four assists. Balthazar Saunders, who transferred from Villanova, has five goals and five assists. Freshman Preston Alessio, the state’s Gatorade player of the year from Taft School in Watertown, came off the bench to score the winning goal against Akron in the Big East semifinals.
Goalkeeper Kyle Durham has played all 19 games, allowing only 20 goals.
The Huskies had two wins over Akron, one each against St. John’s and Seton Hall and a nonconference win over Syracuse, all NCAA Tournament teams. They lost twice to Georgetown, once to Bryant, the 11th seed.
Defending national champ Vermont is the top seed in the field, followed by Virginia, Princeton, Maryland, SMU, Indiana, Georgetown and Portland.