The men’s soccer team returned to Mike Rose Soccer Complex for one game on Friday and suffered a 2-0 loss against the University of Connecticut. It was UConn’s first conference win of the year and the Tigers first loss since Sept. 7 when they fell to Creighton 2-0.
“I thought we put the effort in tonight,” Memphis head coach Richard Mulrooney said. “I wouldn’t say it was the smartest.”
The Tigers started the game better than the Huskies by gaining possession early and passing creatively. However, there was a shift when David Zalzman, senior midfielder and team captain, suffered a hamstring injury in the 25th minute. He was out for the remainder of the match.
“I just felt something pop in my hamstring,” Zalzman said. “It was hurting a little bit more every time I was trying to run, so I decided to stay out.”
Luke Biasi, sophomore midfielder, also suffered a sprained ankle in the second half of the match after he cleared a ball from a UConn player. His injury seemed severe when he had to be helped off the field by the trainer.
“I don’t know the severity of it [Luke’s sprained ankle],” Mulrooney said. “But it was bad enough to hold him out tonight, and hopefully a week of recovery and rehab can get him back healthy next week for us.”
While injuries may have slowed the Tigers down, they held UConn scoreless in the first half with six shots compared to the Huskies’ four shots to keep them on their feet.
However, Memphis was startled in the second half when UConn scored from a weak shot into the bottom left post that slipped past junior goalkeeper Tyler Hofmann.
“I think we started losing our way a bit, individually and collectively,” Mulrooney said.
Not long after the first goal, UConn got even more dangerous, as they had two shots that hit the left post within 12 minutes of each other. Luck was on Memphis’ side, as they could have been down 3-0 if it weren’t for a few inches.
Although the Tigers did have moments near the end of the match to even the score, they couldn’t get many quality shots during the match.
Mason Morise, senior midfielder who had three shots including one on target, said UConn’s defensive formation held the Tigers to less quality shots.
“This game they were sitting back, and we knew the chances would be limited,” Morise said.
Memphis had a last minute free kick in which Hofmann left an empty net to help Memphis score, but the free kick from midfield was short. UConn made the counter attack, and Hofmann couldn’t catch up to UConn’s striker as he scored the dagger to end the match.
Mulrooney now will look ahead to the match against Temple on Saturday night. He said there is much to fix before heading to Philadelphia.
“I think there’s a tempo on our offense that we could’ve done better with,” Mulrooney said. “I think individually, we could’ve taken care of the ball better. I think defensively, we were reacting instead of anticipating. Just a bit of everything; it’s a Bill Belichick answer.”
Memphis plays Temple on Saturday night in Philadelphia for their next match.
Mason Morise (17) tries to stop a UConn forward from making a run with the ball. This game was the Tigers’ first lost against UConn since 2014.
