Blog is Moving!!!!

So, I have decided to move this Blog to a new host, Blogger. I’m doing this for a number of reasons, most notably because Blogger supports Javascript. You can find the new site at http://greguconngames.blogspot.com/. Old posts will stay up here, but if you want to read my new stuff, check over there.

For those Looking for 2012 Baseball Schedule Info…

My sources (read: WordPress stats) tell me that a lot of people are coming to this site looking for info on the 2012 UConn baseball schedule, which I have written about. For the most updated info, see this post, which I will update regularly. This post will sticky to the front for now. Once again, anyone looking for info on the 2012 UConn Huskies baseball schedule, please click here.

Update: The blog has moved to Blogger, and additionally, I have obtained a full (tentative) UConn baseball schedule. See this post to read it. The above links will not have been updated, so don’t use them. Just use that link.

Thursday Morning UConn Huskies Roundup (October 13th, 2011)

Good morning, UConn fans! It’s starting to get chilly here in the Northeast. But it’s now just over three months until I go back to school from medical leave. Here’s your roundup.

Men’s and Women’s Basketball: First Night is this Friday night at 7:00 PM, with doors opening at 6:00. Pretty much the only remotely interesting thing they do all night is introduce this year’s players.  They also have giveaways that with several thousand fans competing, you’re probably not winning. If you don’t want to waste an hour or more of your time just watching this overrated garbage, there’s plenty of other sports stuff you can do Friday night at 7:00 PM. Read on for more.

Football: The homecoming game is this Saturday at 3:30 PM vs. USF. Forecast is mostly sunny and a high near 67. The Huskies are 2-4 on the season and 0-1 in Big East play. If we want any chance of going to a bowl this season, we probably have to win this game. Otherwise, we need to go 4-1 down the stretch, which is doubtful. Even 3-2 I doubt we can do. But if we start 2-5, we’re almost certainly not going bowling this December.

Men’s Soccer: Well, the shutout streak is over. After 961 minutes and 32 seconds, the Huskies conceded a goal on a bad angle shot that Andre Blake really should have saved. Nevertheless, thanks to two goals by Mamadou Doudou Diouf, the Huskies won 2-1. This was almost a disaster for UConn, however. With the score 2-1 and time running out, Andrew John-Baptiste headed a ball away from danger just before it crossed the goal line. That would have made it 2-2 and the Friars would have had all the momentum heading into Overtime. Instead, a win’s a win, and the Huskies will take it. Next up, the Huskies will host Pittsburgh on Saturday at 7:30 PM. That game will be on All-Access, but evidently not WHUS. With a 3-0-1 record in Big East play (and 12-0-1 overall), the Huskies are in second place in the Blue Division, two points behind Marquette and one ahead of Georgetown and West Virginia. The Huskies have not faced any of those teams yet, and will face the Mountaineers in Morgantown and the other two at home.

Women’s Soccer: The Huskies will conclude their home schedule with two games this weekend. First, on Friday night at 7:00 PM (First Night time), they will host the Pittsburgh Panthers at Morrone Stadium. Then on Sunday at 1:00 PM, it’s Senior Day, as the American Division leading West Virginia Mountaineers come rolling in. The Huskies are 3-3-2 on the season in Big East play, and 6-6-2 overall. This puts them a mere two points ahead of Providence for the final Big East Tournament spot. The Huskies and Friars will square off in Providence on Saturday, October 22nd, in the final game of the season for both teams. As UConn’s travel partner, the Friars will also host West Virginia and Pitt this weekend. So, it’s a critical end to the year. As for game coverage, the West Virginia game will be on All-Access, while Pitt will not be. Both games will be on WHUS, however.

Women’s Ice Hockey: On Friday and Saturday, the Huskies will play host to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Friday’s game will be at 7:00 PM (First Night time), while Saturday’s will be at 4:00 PM. UMD is ranked #7 in the country, so these games will be a major challenge for us.

Men’s Ice Hockey: The Huskies open Atlantic Hockey play on Friday night at 7:05 as they travel to West Point to face Army. Live video is available on Army’s website. The Black Knights have played one game this year, an 8-1 loss to Union.

Women’s Volleyball: The Huskies will return to Gampel Saturday night at 7:00 PM to face St. John’s. The Red Storm also do not have a win in Big East play, so this is a very winnable game to get back on the right track.

Field Hockey: The Huskies host Princeton on Sunday at 2:00 PM for the first of two non-conference meetings this year. The Tigers have had a very disappointing season and will look to prove something against the #4 Huskies. Next Sunday is an even bigger game for UConn, as they host #5 Syracuse in a contest that will almost certainly decide the Big East regular season champion.

UConn Sports Roundup, October 12th

Only a couple sports on the ticket today. 

Women’s Volleyball: The Huskies wrapped up their non-conference season with a 3-1 win over Fordham. The Rams won the first set 25-23, but the Huskies won the next three, 25-19, 25-18, and 25-20. Additionally, Mattison Quayle tied a career high with 21 kills. The Huskies went 10-5 in non Big East games and are now 10-10 overall. They will continue their Big East schedule Saturday at 7:00 PM against St. John’s.

Men’s Soccer: Due to potential inclement weather, the game vs. Providence today has been moved up to 4:00 PM. The last time Providence came to Morrone Stadium was in the 2009 Big East Tournament, when they knocked us out. We’ll be looking to avenge that here today. The game will still be on WHUS and All-Access.

Tentative Weekday Baseball Game Schedule

This is the tentative schedule for weekday baseball games, excluding preseason tournaments. Of course, it is subject to change. My source is a member of The Boneyard, who got it from someone at the alumni game. It is, of course, still subject to change as the official schedule has not been released. All home games are at JOC Field, except for Sacred Heart which will be at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

Sacred Heart – 3/13
Yale – 3/21
Hartford – 3/27
CCSU – 3/28
at Boston College – 4/3
at Quinnipiac -4/9
at Brown – 4/11
at Fairfield – 4/17
Northeastern – 4/18
Bryant – 4/24
at UMass – 4/25
URI – 5/15

Note: All of these games are prior to the end of classes except for URI, which is a week and several days after commencement weekend. However, from March 28th to April 18th, we do not have a home weekday game. In general, whoever we got at home last year we play on the road, and vice versa. There are a few exceptions. I will analyze this more when the full schedule is officially released.

New Blog Feature: UConn Awards, Plus the Awards from October 3rd-9th

So, after just posting about three Huskies that won awards, I’ve decided to add a new feature to this blog: Awards. They will be given out to one UConnplayer and one UConn team (both can be of either sex) every week, plus one at the end of every month to an exceptional player/team from that month. I will also name a possibly varying number of runners-up (for now I’m starting at three for the players and none for the teams), in order of virtue. I might also do an “All Fall Sports” team, and “All Winter Sports” and “All Spring Sports” teams when those seasons end. Plus maybe a an “2011-12 UConn First Team”. We’ll see. For now though, here are the award winners for the week of October 3rd-9th:

Player of the Week: Andre Blake, Men’s Soccer GK:

The freshman phenom continued to wow fans this week, as Blake recorded his 9th straight shutout. The Jamaican has now gone 880 minutes without allowing a goal, and is two games short of tying the NCAA all-time record for shutouts in a row. During the week, the Huskies went 1-0-1, beating Manhattan 3-0 and drawing Notre Dame 0-0 on the road in 2OT.

Runners-Up (In Order of Rank)

1. Chloe Hunnable, F, Field Hockey, 3 goals and 1 assist
2. Brant Harris, FW, Men’s Ice Hockey, 3 goals
3. Mattison Quayle, Women’s Volleyball, 17 kills and 7 digs in narrow loss to USF

UConn Team of the Week: Men’s Soccer

The Huskies started the week off on Wednesday night, October 4th, with an easy 3-0 win over Manhattan, also recording their 8th straight shutout and tying a school record. On Saturday afternoon, they played to a scoreless draw with Notre Dame in South Bend, breaking the shutout record and drawing within two of the NCAA record. Once again, the Huskies were voted #1 in the nation this week as well.

UConn Sports Roundup/Preview, October 10th (UPDATED)

As promised, a look ahead to the Week to Come, which of course, is Homecoming Week. For info on what happened over the weekend, see my last post or click here.

Men’s and Women’s Basketball: Friday Night is First Night. It is the biggest mockery of basketball that will happen all year. But if you’re interested, the event starts at 7:00 and doors open at 6:00. More info here.

Football: Following the humiliating loss to West Virginia, the Huskies return home to host USF on Saturday at 3:30 PM. That game will be on SNY and Big East Regional Television. This is pretty much a must-win game for the Huskies who come in 2-4 and 0-1 in Big East play. After USF, they head to Pitt in a nationally televised game on Wednesday, Octoer 26th, so it doesn’t get any easier. But why are they playing college football on Wednesday nights? Ridiculous.

Men’s Ice Hockey: The Huskies will open up their Atlantic Hockey Schedule on Friday night as they travel to West Point to face Army. The Huskies are 0-1-1 on the season and are looking to live up to heightened expectations following their AHA semifinals appearance last year.

Men’s Soccer: The Huskies will look to extend their shutout and unbeaten streaks Wednesday at home against Providence.  They will wrap up the homestand Saturday against Pittsburgh. Both games are at 7:30 PM. They are each available on All-Access but only Providence will be on WHUS due to the football game. The NCAA record for shutouts is 11 games without allowing a goal, and right now the Huskies have gone nine. So, that record could fall soon. For now though, the Huskies are 11-0-1 overall, and 2-0-1 in Big East play. Critical home games against Georgetown and Marquette are still to come. 

Field Hockey: Just one game for the Huskies this week, Sunday at 2:00 PM against Princeton. The Huskies actually face Princeton twice this year, the other time being in the last game of the season. But the Tigers have had a disappointing year this year. The Huskies will be looking to take the victory. After the Princeton matchup, the Huskies will host Boston University under the lights on the 19th, before hosting Syracuse at noon on the 23rd in a game that will in all likelihood, decide the Big East regular season champion. The Huskies will clinch the regular season title with a win there, and if the Orange beat Georgetown on Friday (which they should) it will assure them the title with a win as well. Normally, I’d say this doesn’t matter, but with the “Big Three” of UConn, Syracuse, and Louisville, and the Cardinals almost certainly getting the #3 seed, it would help to avoid them. 

Women’s Ice Hockey: The 0-2-2 Huskies look to notch one in the win column when they play a two game series against Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs will come into Freitas Ice Forum on Friday at 7:00 PM (note: the same time First Night begins) and again on Saturday at 4:00.

Women’s Soccer: The Huskies wrap up their home season this weekend with games against Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The Pitt game will begin at 7:00 PM on Friday (same time as First Night) while they will face West Virginia on Sunday at 1:00 PM on Senior Day. They will conclude the regular season on Saturday, October 22nd at Providence at 1:00 PM. Currently, the Huskies are two points ahead of the Friars for the final Big East playoff spot and one point behind St. John’s for the right to host an Opening Round game. They will almost certainly play in the 4-5 matchup instead of bypassing the Opening Round, since #3 Syracuse has 15 points, four more than the Huskies with three games to go.

Women’s Volleyball: Coming off a narrow loss to USF, the Huskies will look to bounce back. They wrap up their non-conference slate tomorrow at 7:00 PM against Fordham, before hosting St. John’s Saturday at 7:00 PM. The Rams game will be on All-Access, while the Red Storm matchup will only be on GameTracker. St. John’s is even with the Huskies at the bottom of the Big East at 0-5. So, this is a game the Huskies can win.

Update 4:50 PM: Three Huskies were announced as weekly award winners earlier today. Men’s soccer Goalkeeper Andre Blake was named Big East Rookie of the Week after his 9th straight shutout and Field Hockey freshman phenom Chloe Hunnable received Big East Offensive Player of the Week thanks to her three goals and one assist. Additionally, Brant Harris was named Atlantic Hockey Offensive Player of the Week thanks to his three goals over the weekend.

UConn Sports Roundup for Sunday, October 9th

Here is the summary of today’s games. A larger preview of the week to come will be posted tonight or tomorrow.

Women’s Soccer: The Huskies lost to Marquette 3-0 on the road, and were outshot 24-8. Not even close. The Huskies host Pitt and West Virginia next weekend to wrap up their home schedule.

Field Hockey: It looked like the #4 ranked Huskies might be victim of an upset, trailing unranked Virginia 1-0 late. But goals from Chloe Hunnable and Justine Angelini in the final minutes led the Huskies to a 2-1 victory. Next up, a week from today, Princeton will roll into Storrs to face the Huskies.

Women’s Ice Hockey: The Huskies tied with Clarkson, 3-3, and are now 0-2-2 on the season. The Huskies begin a two game series at home next Friday against Minnesota-Duluth. Sami Evelyn, Emily Snodgrass, and Jocelyn Slattery each had goals for the Huskies and Alexandra Garcia made 38 saves.

UConn Baseball Schedule Speculation and Facts

I posted earlier about known baseball games for next season. Here is what I said we have in print is happening:

Mon. March 5: At Mississippi State (MSU Schedule)
Oregon Tournament (TBD, Fri-Sat. March 3-11): vs. Oregon, Oregon State, Oklahoma, Illinois (Courant Website)
Tuesday, March 13th: at Sacred Heart (Pioneers Athletic Website)
Fri-Sun, April 13-15: at St. John’s (Blankmeyer releases Big East Portion of 2012 schedule)
Sat-Sun, May 5 (DH)-6: vs. Cincinnati (Bearcats “Super Scoreboard” – baseball page still lists last year’s schedule)
Tues. May 24th: vs. Bryant, 3:30 PM (athletic website)
No Games: Villanova, Georgetown

Additionally, the Yale website now confirms we are playing the Bulldogs on Wednesday, March 21 at 3:00 PM.

Finally, this was posted on the UConn Fan site, The Boneyard. I do not know how much of it is true.

Here are some additional games:
College of Charleston Tournament – Xavier, College of Charleston, URI – Feb 24-26
Mississippi State Tournament – Lipscomb, Mississippi State – March 3-5
Nike Classic – Oklahoma, Oregon State, Illinois, Oregon – March 9-11
Coastal Carolina Tournament – Michigan, Coastal, UAB – March 16-18

Possible games at either Norwich or New Britain:
Rutgers – April 20
Cincinnati – May 5
Notre Dame – May 17 & 18

First scheduled home game – March 21 – Yale

Supposing this to be true, that would mean we host Rutgers April 20-22 and Notre Dame May 17-19. (The last Big East series of the season is Thursday-Saturday). It also means we will not be home on finals weekend unless they give us three in a row. Assuming the Rutgers and Notre Dames to be accurate, we know the Cincinnati date is accurate, which means Seton Hall is the only one we’re waiting on.

Additionally, we will likely play non-conferencr weekday games against Brown, Hartford, CCSU, Holy Cross, etc. Stay tuned!

 

UConn Sports Roundup for Sunay, October 9th

Yom Kippur is now over. Here is what happened Friday and Saturday and what you can expect today.

Women’s Soccer: The Huskies defeated the USF Bulls 1-0 on Friday night, thanks to a Devin Prendergast goal in the 78th minute. The Huskies are now 6-5-2 overall and 3-2-2 in the Big East. They have 11 points, which puts them six ahead of USF for the final spot in the Big East Tournament. They are one behind St. John’s for the #4 seed, and would head to them for an opening round game if the season ended today. This afternoon at 2:00 PM, the Huskies travel to #9/13 Marquette. Live audio is available on the Marquette website.

Football: After trailing just 10-9 at halftime, the Huskies went on to lose to West Virginia 43-16. Johnny McEntee was 21-of-37 passing for 193 yards, but Geno Smith topped him by throwing 450 yards for the Mountaineers. There’s no excuse for such poor defense, and it cost us. Our next game is next Saturday at home vs USF, which will also be our homecoming game. Currently, we are 2-4 and 0-1 in Big East play.

Men’s Soccer: The #1 Huskies tied the #12 Notre Dame 0-0 on the road yesterday. It was goalkeeper Andre Blake’s 9th straight shotout, a new school record. It also ruins the perfect season, but we’re still undefeated at 11-0-1. Additionally, #2 Maryland lost to Virginia on Friday, so this should not cost us our #1 ranking. Next up, we host Providence on Wednesday at 7:30 PM in a good old New England Rivalry.

Women’s Ice Hockey: The Huskies are now 0-2-1 following a loss to St. Lawrence on the road last night. Today at 1:00 they will travel to Potsdam, NY, to face Clarkson. Free live audio and stats as well as paid video are available on Clarkson’s website. UConn is 0-2-1 on the season.

Men’s Ice Hockey: On Friday night, the Huskies lost 2-1  to Bowling Green in the season opener. Brant Harris scored a power play goal, but it wasn’t enough. The Huskies bounced back last night, however, tying the Falcons 4-4 thanks to a Harris goal with under two minutes in regulation. Currently the Huskies are 0-1-1 on the year. Next Friday, the Huskies will head to West Point for their Atlantic Hockey opener at Army at 7:05 PM.

Women’s Volleyball: The Huskies just missed beating USF in a 5-set thriller, losing by the linescore of 23-25, 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 21-19. Bear in mind that the fifth set was played to 15 with win by 2 or more points. So it was very tight. Mattison Quayle had a great day for the Huskies, with 17 kills and 7 digs. The Huskies are now 0-5 in Big East and 9-10 overall. On Tuesday night, the Huskies host Fordham in the final non-conference matchup of the regular season. That game is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Field Hockey: The Huskies clobbered Georgetown on Friday afternoon, winning 10-0. Chloe Hunnable and Alicia Angelini each scored two goals, and Allison Angulo added three assists. The Huskies have a somewhat tougher matchup today as they will face Virginia in Princeton, NJ. The Cavaliers have had a poor season this year and failed to live up to expectations. They’re looking to prove the doubters wrong against the #4 Huskies. Next Sunday, the Tigers come to Sherman Family Sports Complex to face the Huskies, and of course looking ahead two weeks, there’s the game against Syracuse on October 23rd that will likely decide the Big East championship. UConn is currently 11-1 overall and 4-0 in Big East play.