WSOC Advances in BIG EAST Champ With 3-2 Win vs. Butler
STORRS, Conn. - The UConn women's soccer team (10-3-5) advanced to the BIG EAST semifinals with a dramatic 3-2 victory against Butler on Sunday afternoon at Morrone Stadium.
The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half but were staring at overtime after Butler evened the score in the 70th minute.
With just 90 seconds left in regulation, junior Sophie McCarthy played a perfect long ball up ahead to Chioma Okafor. Okafor, who scored earlier in the match, chipped her shot over the Butler keeper and gave UConn the lead back and eventual victory.
For the sophomore, it was the fifth and sixth goals of the season for Okafor and her first September 16 against Buffalo.
The victory was the first postseason win for the Huskies since 2016 and the first BIG EAST Championship victory since returning to the conference in 2020. The last one coming against Rutgers in 2012.
The win also gives UConn its 10th win of the season, the most for the Huskies since their NCAA Tournament season in 2016.
Fifth year senior Jessica Mazo scored for the second-straight game just over two minutes into the match and nearly gave UConn the lead in the second half with a long distance shot that banged off the crossbar.
The win against Butler was the first in program history and avenges a pair of BIG EAST Championship defeats to the Bulldogs in the spring and fall of 2021.
The Huskies advance to Thursday's semifinal tilt against Georgetown at 6:30 p.m. with an opportunity to reach the BIG EAST Championship game and improve their increasing chances of a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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