MSOC falls to Xavier in regular season finale

STORRS, Conn. – The UConn men's soccer team lost to the Xavier Musketeers, 4-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Huskies will enter the BIG EAST Tournament as the no. 5 seed and will travel to the no. 4 seed St. John's Red Storm. 

In the 22^nd minute, the Huskies found themselves in an uphill battle as starting goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert was shown a straight red card for a foul outside of UConn's 18 yard box. Xavier capitalized, scoring the game's opening goal from the free kick given by the Hibbert challenge. Graduate senior Clayton Knibbs replaced Hibbert at goalkeeper for the Huskies. 

UConn was able to fend off the Musketeers attack until halftime, going into the break down 1-0, and down a man. 

Xavier extended their lead to two in the 65^th minute off a corner kick. The Musketeers put the game out of reach just four minutes later in the 69^th minute off another corner kick, making it 3-0. Xavier scored their fourth goal in the 77^th minute, giving the Musketeers a commanding 4-0 lead. 

UConn finished the game with five shots but struggled to hold possession down a man for 68 minutes of the 90. 

"I thought we played quite well before the red card," said head coach Chris Gbandi. "Going down a man for that long in the match takes a toll, especially against a good team in Xavier. I think it's disappointing, we had an opportunity to play another home game here this season, now we just have to do it the hard way". 

Up Next: 

UConn has earned the no. 5 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament and has a first round matchup at the no. 4 seed St. John's Red Storm on Saturday, November 4. Kickoff is set for 6:00pm EST and will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network.