Men’s and women’s soccer both lose during Hawktober weekend

Chaz Young, Sports Editor

Hawktober weekend has ended. Unfortunately, the men’s and women’s soccer teams couldn’t score a win and lose their games ended each of their winning streaks on one of the biggest days of UHart.

First up was the Men who took on Vermont during Saturday’s Hawktober celebration. During halftime of the game, the 1999 men’ soccer team was recognized for all of their accomplishments of winning the America East Championship during their season. Kickoff that begin at 4:00 pm on what was a beautiful day in West Hartford, but unfortunately wasn’t bold enough to take a win against Vermont. Their longest unbeaten winning streak in Hawk history came to an end, with a final score of 3-0, in the America East Action. Several players from the UHart men’s team expressed great sadness and were not pleased with the outcome, but cited that it’s just one game and that they will come back stronger to take home not just another win, but to challenge their longest running streak so far in the 2019-2020 season.

For the women’s team, Sunday was not the day for team, if the bad weather wasn’t enough, a loss on top of that took the cake. The women’s team of having a possible five game winning streak was cut down to just four, as they loss to visiting rivals New Hampshire, in a final score of 1-0. The women’s team fell in the America East, while the Wildcats improve upon their record for the 2019-2020 season. A foul made in just the first 14 minutes of the game by a Hartford defender, Ally Reynolds inside the soccer box, gave the Wildcats a penalty kick and another opportunity at scoring. Reynolds made it with a low shot to the left post to give UNH the lead, a lead that would eventually win the game.

However, there were some highlights from both teams, as both did in-fact showcase some amazing shots and assists throughout the games. For the men, goalkeeper Jimmy Slayton did the best he could in stopping shots and putting-up a tremendous effort on the field. On the field itself, players Pablo Basarte, Tomer Drimmer, Mevlan Lebiti, and Jovante Etienne provided most of the assists, attempted shots, and plays on the field during Sunday’s game. For the women’s team, players Kaila Lozada, Molly Socha, Skylar Vitiello, and Sierra Stone also provided most of the assists and attempted shots during their match-up as well.

Both teams in the sport of soccer has many more opportunities to prove their worth.

The men’s next match-up will be against New Hampshire for an America East clash on Saturday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. from Wildcat Stadium. However, last Tuesday night the men did take home a win for beating Dartmouth in a score of 1-0.

The women will be playing their final regular season road game this coming Sunday, as the team is traveling to Baltimore to face UMBC. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.