Dan Donigan has history with the University of Connecticut, but he’ll put all of that behind him this weekend when the men’s soccer team takes on the Huskies at home.
In what is considered one of the marquee matchups of the weekend in NCAA soccer, No. 9 Saint Louis University takes on No. 4 UConn, the head coach’s alma mater, where he was a three-time All-American soccer player.
“The fact that I’m a graduate makes it a little more of an exciting game, but the most intriguing thing is that they have a great amount of talent and we have a great amount of talent,” Donigan said. “There’s really limited emotions involved; it’s more about playing a quality opponent at home and getting a result.”
The Huskies’ main threat, and the player that could give the Bills the most trouble, is O’Brian White. The UConn senior was chosen as the 2007 Men’s Player of the Year. With 24 goals last season, he was regarded as the best player in the country.
Junior midfielder James Jaramillo, who transferred to SLU from UCLA this year, said he’s confident SLU’s defense can contain the dangerous forward.
“Defensive shape is going to be huge,” Jaramillo said. “I don’t think their offense is better than anything our defense has handled before.”
Leading SLU from the back will be junior captain Josh Aranda and junior outside back Tim Ream. Senior goalkeeper Pat Disbennett, who has made 16 saves this season, will look to shut down White and post his second shutout.
The key to repeating last weekend’s two-win showing in Nebraska, according to senior Brandon Barklage, will be to come out with the same intensity against UConn.
“When we jump on teams from the beginning we’re a hard team to beat, so if we do that this weekend, then we have nothing to worry about,” Barklage said.
Donigan said the game is a good chance to get a victory against a top-ranked team.
“We came back from Creighton with more confidence than we went with,” Donigan said. “If we can get a good result against one of the best teams in the country, it’s only going to boost our confidence and continue to roll.”
UConn has yielded only one goal in four games this season. But, while the Bills are coming off two wins last weekend, the Huskies posted an unexpected tie to Boston University. Because the teams match up in experience, Donigan said every play will make a difference.
“It’s going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes in the crucial parts of the game,” Donigan said.
