NCAA men

White strikes for three again, No. 1 UConn blanks Providence 3-0.

O'Brian White vaulted into the NCAA Division I with three goals against Providence, his second straight hat trick. -- Big East Conference web site photo --

STORRS, Conn. (Wednesday, October 10, 2007) -- Junior striker O'Brian White struck for three goals for a second straight outing, leading No. 1 Connecticut to a 3-0 whitewash of Providence in a Big East match before 1,305 at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium tonight.

By winning for the fifth straight time, UConn raised its record to 12-1, 6-1 in conference, while dropping the Friars to 5-5-1 and 2-3-1. The Huskies lead the Blue Division and the entire conference with 18 points, though third-ranked Notre Dame (5-0-1) trails by only two points and has a game in hand.

White became the first Husky to record back-to-back hat tricks and only the second player in the program's history to have more than one for his career. He leads NCAA Division I with 14 goals and 32 points.

White scored twice in an early two-minute span to give UConn a lead it would not relinquish. Junior midfielder Akeem Priestley sent a ball into the right side of the penalty area for White to launch a hard roller inside the far post for a 1-0 lead with 9:34 elapsed.

Soon after, senior forward Ryan Cordeiro registered his fifth assist of the season, sending a left-side cross into the box for White to drive home from close range, making it 2-0 after 11:29..

In the 86th minute, sophomore midfielder Mike Pezza, who leads Division I with 13 assists, sent a lead pass which White caught up to at the top of the box. White then beat goalkeeper Timothy Murray with a shot into the left corner of the net to finalize the margin at 3-0.

White also found net three times Saturday in a 4-0 league decision over visiting Pittsburgh.

Freshman keeper Josh Ford made six saves, five after intermission, against Providence for his ninth clean sheet of the season, lowering his goals-against average to 0.38. Overall, the Huskies outshot PC 11-10.

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