STORRS, Conn. – Junior transfer Edir DaGraca scored his first goal as a Husky in the 41st minute, as the No. 3 University of Connecticut men’s soccer team defeated the Boston University Terriers, 1-0,  on Friday night in front of a crowd of 4,243 at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. UConn improves to 2-0-0 on the season while the Terriers fall to 0-2-0.

DaGraca’s goal was created by Mamadou Diouf who laced a pass to the top left of the box where DaGraca was waiting. He turned and fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the net past BU’s sprawling goalkeeper, Matt Gilbert. It marked DaGraca’s first points as a Husky and also gave Diouf his first assist of the season.

Connecticut had numerous opportunities in the first half, outshooting the Terriers 9-2 . In the 17^th minute, Kwame Awuah crossed a ball into the right side of the box from 20 yards out that narrowly missed Cyle Larin’s head. Larin was again involved in the 34^th minute when he sent a through ball to Diouf who ripped a shot that curled wide of the net.

Boston University maintained possession for the first 10 minutes of the match but couldn’t get much offense going as the Connecticut backline played tough all night. Andre Blake played all 90 minutes for the Huskies, making one save and earning his second shutout of the year. The Husky goalkeeper improves to 2-0-0 on the young season. Last season, Blake allowed just 12 total goals.

The second half saw two Terrier ejections as BU goalkeeper Matt Gilbert pulled down Cyle Larin at the top of the box in the 64th minute. Less than 15 minutes later, Kelvin Madzongwe drew his send yellow card of the evening for a hard tackle near the box.

In the 57^th minute Larin received a pass from midfielder Colin Bradley on a give-and-go but had his shot blocked from 12 yards out. In the 82^nd minute, Nicholas Zuniga found an open Diouf who head faked the new Terrier goalkeeper, Nick Thomson, but couldn’t find the back of the net as Thompson was able to knock Diouf’s shot away with his left hand.

In the 85^th minute, Zuniga fired a shot from 18 yards out that skipped off the top of the crossbar and into the stands. The Terriers had one final opportunity in the 88^th minute as Jordan Barker found space at the top of the box but his shot soared over the net and into the crowd.

The Huskies will return to action on Tuesday, September 10^th, when they take on No. 19 Washington at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium at 7 p.m.

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