No. 6/6 Connecticut 4, No. 24/22 USF 0 | Box Score (PDF) Updated Season Stats (through Sept. 24)   1 2 OT F USF 0 0 0 Connecticut 1 3 4  Top Performers  Player G A Shots SOG UConn - Tony Cascio 3 0 5 4 USF - Leston Paul 0 0 3 1  Goalkeepers  Player Minutes GA Saves UConn - Josh Ford 90:00 0 3 USF - Jeff Attinella 90:00 4 1

TAMPA - The University of South Florida men's soccer team kicked off its BIG EAST Conference schedule tonight and in doing so and had its four-match winning streak snapped with a 4-0 loss to Connecticut in front of 4,374 fans at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn.

"It's tough to go on the road and get a win when you concede three re-start goals which is not typical of us," said USF head coach George Kiefer. "I think we were just a little unlucky tonight. We just have to get back and prepare for Rhode Island. That's all we can do." 

Both teams came out in the first half feeling each other out with no real opportunities in the first seven-plus minutes of the contest.

USF's Hasani Sinclair would get the first real chance to score when he got a good look at the Huskies goal from the far right wing, sent a shot in on net only to have it saved by UConn net minder Josh Ford in the eighth minute.

The Huskies (6-0-1, 1-0-0 BIG EAST) would pick up the pressure offensively in the 14th minute getting a shot off from about 16 yards out by Tony Cascio only to have the attempt stopped by USF keeper Jeff Attinella.

UConn would eventually strike first getting on the board in the 15th minute of play when Stephane Diop tallied his fourth goal of the season, from inside the 18-yard box, when he took passes from Carlos Alvarez and Nicardo Blake and put the ball into the low right corner of the goal past Attinella.

The Bulls (4-2-1, 0-1-0 BIG EAST) would seem to get their legs under them following the Huskies goal. USF would get four of its five first half corner kicks in just over a minute stretch from the 16:17 mark to the 17:29 mark of the first half but could never connect. Fernando Gonzalez would get a good look on the fourth of those four corners only to have the shot blocked.

Leston Paul would then get a chance on back-to-back shots; the first was blocked while the rebound shot went high from the close right wing in the 24th minute.

Bernardo Anor, the Most Valuable Player of last weekend's Embassy Suites Kickoff Classic in Fort Myers, would get one last chance to get the Bulls on the board in the first half, in the 37th minute, however his shot went wide.

UConn came out in the second half and took control from the opening kick. The Huskies would get a flurry of shots from about five yards out with the final attempt getting kicked out over the end line by the USF defense for a Connecticut corner kick just two minutes into the final half.

Cascio would get the game-winner shortly after, in the 55th minute, on a shot in the box off an assist from Andrew Jeanbaptiste.

Cascio then put the game out of reach with back-to-back goals in the 60th and 74th minute en route to the win.

The Bulls return home on Sept. 29 vs. Rhode Island at 7:30 p.m. for the first of two straight at the USF Soccer Stadium. That match will be seen live in the Tampa Bay area on Bright House Sports Network. The final game of that two-game stretch will be against Syracuse on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. before heading out on the first of two road tilts at Florida Atlantic on Oct. 6.