// THE OPENING WHISTLE
The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team is set to face UConn Sunday afternoon in Hartford, Conn., as the Bearcats will look to continue to build upon a four-match unbeaten streak as well as a growing shutout streak that includes Thursday's 2-0 win at Temple. The Bearcats (3-5-2, 1-0-0 AAC) are one of four teams a top the American Athletic Conference standings through the opening match of league play while the Huskies (4-4-1, 0-1-0 AAC) will look to bounce back from its opening league loss to ECU (1-0).
// GOING LIVE
Sunday's match at UConn will be streamed live on its website, UConnHuskies.com. Live stats will also be available on the same website.
// QUICK SHOTS
• Cincinnati heads into Sunday's match at UConn with a 3-5-2 record and stand 1-0-0 in the AAC
• After dropping five in a row, the Bearcats are unbeaten in the last four, posting a 2-0-2 record
• Following Thursday's 2-0 win at Temple, UC is now 12-12-2 all-time in its first conference game of the season and 13-12-1 in its first conference road match of the year
• The Bearcats are playing in their 40th varsity campaign this year, holding a 390-291-66 all-time record starting in 1980 and including Thursday's win at Temple
• The UC defense has not allowed a goal in 367:50, the 10th-longest streak in program history
• Madison Less now ranks #7 in all-time shutouts (12.0) and tied for #8 in goalkeeper wins (12)
• Both goals scored at Temple came 2:08 a part, the 12th-fastest back-to-back goals for the Bearcats since 2001 (electronic stats began)
• Camryn Hartman scored the first goal of the night at Temple for her for first collegiate goal and first collegiate game-winner
• Sophie Gorman netted the second goal to make her the third player on the team with 2+ scores
• Through Match Day #1 in the AAC, four teams, including three visitors, earned wins in the four opening-night matches, putting Cincinnati, ECU, Memphis and USF at the top of the table on three points (SMU & Houston have a bye from conference matches this week)
// KNOW THE FOE: UCONN
• The Huskies enter the match with a 4-4-1 record and stand 0-1-0 in the AAC after dropping Thursday's opener to visiting ECU, 1-0
• UConn is 3-2-0 at home this year, but has lost its last two home contests with a 3-1 win by Harvard coming head of the loss to the Pirates in league play
• Kess Elmore leads the offense with 11 points on four goals and three assists while no other UConn player has recorded multiple goals or multiple assists this season
• Randi Palacios has played every minute in goal for the Huskies, saving 42 shots and allowing 12 goals for a 1.30 GAA so far this season
// NOTING THE SERIES: BEARCATS-HUSKIES
• UConn holds a 6-4-2 lead in the all-time series dating back to a non-conference clash in 1983
• When the Huskies play host, UConn leads, 3-1-1, although UC won the last meeting in Connecticut, 1-0, on September 28, 2017
• Last year, UConn downed UC, 4-0, in Cincinnati on October 14, 2018
// IN LEAGUE OPENERS
Including Thursday's win at Temple, the Bearcats now hold a 12-12-2 all-time record in their first conference contest of the season and are 2-3-2 in their opening match of the AAC season. Additionally, the Bearcats hold a 13-12-1 all-time record in their first conference road match of the season, including a 5-1-1 record as members of the AAC.
// QUICK CAP • ROAD WIN
• Cincinnati captured three points on the road with a 2-0 decision over Temple Thursday night
• Camryn Hartman scored her first collegiate goal and Sophie Gorman followed with her second of the year 2:08 later to put UC on top in the 61'
• The goal scored by Hartman also snapped a scoreless streak for the Bearcats that had run 303:13
• Madison Less made two saves and the defense kept its third clean sheet in a row
• UC is now 2-0-2 in its last four matches after a five-match losing skid
// EARLY STANDINGS
The AAC season got underway Thursday with four matches (SMU & Houston do not have league matches this week) with three of the visiting teams grabbing road wins. The victorious visitors included UC over Temple (2-0), ECU over UConn (1-0) and #11 Memphis over rv UCF (1-0). The other match saw rv USF escape with a 2-1 double overtime win against Tulsa. With the results, UC, ECU, UM and USF all have three points for the very early lead a top the league table.
// WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
There are several streaks the Bearcats are looking to maintain right now and one is their current four-match unbeaten streak. UC opened the year with a win and then lost five in a row. Since then, however, the young Bearcats have begun to turn things around as they have posted a 2-0-2 record in their last four matches with wins on the road at Lipscomb (3-2) and Temple (2-0) book-ending scoreless home draws with Xavier and Austin Peay.
// NO GOALS ALLOWED!
Another streak the Bearcats are currently working comes in the way of not allowing goals. After allowing Lipscomb to take a 2-1 lead in the 33', the Bearcats defense has not conceded a goal since, a span of 367:50. After the game at LU, UC posted back-to-back scoreless draws with Xavier (110:00) and Austin Peay (110:00). Adding those times to the 57:50 of the Lipscomb match and then the 90:00 of shutout play at Temple, UC's 367:50 ranks as the 10th-longest streak in program history and the second-longest under Neil Stafford. The longest came in 2017 when Stafford's Bearcats shutout five foes to accumulate 588:19 of scoreless play.
// LESS MOVING UP
With the strong play of the defense ahead of her, Less was called up on to make just two saves at Temple on her way to her third-consecutive shutout and her fourth of the year. With the shutout and victory, Less now has 12 each to her credit, which ranks her highly in program history. For shutouts, she is now seventh all-time at UC while her 12 victories tie her with Kristina Utley (2011-14) for the eighth-most for a Bearcats keeper.
// THAT'S A FIRST!
With the score tied a 0-0 in the 59', Hartman made a move in the box and fired low toward the back post and into the net for a 1-0 UC lead. That goal, which halted a 303:13 scoreless streak for UC, also opened Hartman's scoring account with the Bearcats as the sophomore collected her first career goal. Additionally, her goal stood as the eventual game-winner, also the first of her career.
// BALANCING IT OUT
Gorman's goal that made it 2-0 was her second of the year and the second time she was part of a quick back-to-back scoring run by the Bearcats (more below). With her goal at Temple, Gorman now has two on the, joining both Han Tang (3) and Vanessa DiNardo (2) as multiple-goal scorers for UC in 2019. DiNardo, who assisted on Gorman's goal, shares the second position with Gorman in points on the year with five as both have one assist with two goals while Tang has six points on three goals.
// RAPID FIRE AGAIN
Earlier this year, DiNardo scored a brace in the opener against St. John's with her two goals coming just 21 seconds apart, the fastest two goals scored back-to-back in program history (at least through 2001 when electronic stats were first used). The Hartman and Gorman back-to-back scores at Temple were just 2:08 a part, which ranks as the 12th-fastest at UC and one of just 22 times the Bearcats have scored twice in a less than four minute span. Additionally, Gorman and Tang (PK) scored 1:47 a part at Lipscomb to give this year's team three instances of quick scoring.
Read previously noted information by clicking on the PDF link at the top of the page (in the red box)
// FOLLOW US
GoBearcats.com is your one-stop destination for all things UC Athletics. Socially, the team can also be followed on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with all using the handle GoBearcatsWSOC. Head Coach Neil Stafford (@UCGaffer) also can be followed on Twitter. As always, fans are encouraged to join in the conversation using the hashtag #Bearcats.
// UP NEXT
UC will not be back in action until Thursday, October 10, as the Bearcats will be on their 'open week' from AAC play next week. When play resumes, the Bearcats will play host to #11 Memphis at 7 p.m. inside Gettler Stadium. That same weekend will see UC play host to Tulsa at 1 p.m. Sunday, October 13, with the program honoring its seniors following the match with the Golden Hurricane.
Women’s Soccer Faces UConn Sunday on the Road
The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team is set to face UConn Sunday afternoon in Hartford, Conn., as the Bearcats will look to continue to build upon a four-match unbeaten streak as well as a growing shutout streak that includes Thursday's 2-0 win at Temple.
