Full name | Joseph J. Morrone Stadium |
---|---|
Location | Storrs, Connecticut United States |
Coordinates | 41°48′4″N72°15′18″W / 41.80111°N 72.25500°W |
Owner | University of Connecticut |
Operator | University of Connecticut department of athletics |
Capacity | 5,100 |
Record attendance | 5,495 on December 8, 2007 vs. Virginia Tech (post-2002 contraction) 9,200 on October 24, 1982 vs. Alabama A&M (all-time), [1] 6,090 on September 26, 1999 vs. Syracuse (women's all-time) 2,308 vs. Notre Dame on October 13, 2006 (women's post-contraction) [2] |
Field size | 75 x 120 yards |
Surface | natural grass |
Scoreboard | one electronic scoreboard |
Construction | |
Built | 1969 [3] |
Opened | 1969 |
Renovated | 1994, 2002, 2008, 2009 |
Tenants | |
Connecticut Huskies men's soccer Connecticut Huskies women's soccer Connecticut Huskies women's lacrosse (former, part-time) |
Morrone Stadium, officially known as Ray Reid Field at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium [4] is the on-campus soccer stadium at University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut.
The 5,100-seat stadium was built in 1969. and has undergone many renovations since. The stadium hosts the school's men's and women's soccer programs.
Morrone Stadium was built in 1969, and was at the time known as Connecticut Soccer Stadium. Before that, UConn soccer was largely unknown and unpopular. However, at the urging of newly hired soccer and lacrosse coach Joe Morrone (whose name the stadium now bears), a new stadium was built for the team. [5] The stadium has had a capacity as high as 8,574 but it was restructured in 1994 and again in 2002 to seat 5,564. In 2008, it was again restructured to seat 4,407. In 2009, Morrone Stadium was expanded slightly to 4,500. [6] As of the 2015 season the current capacity is 5,100. [7] In 1997, the board of trustees voted to change the name of the stadium to honor Morrone, who had just retired after coaching soccer for 28 years at UConn. The stadium was officially renamed in 1999 to Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. [8] In 2008, the Division of Athletics proposed to build a new basketball practice facility on the site of Morrone, [9] but that was later changed and it will now be built where the vacant Memorial Stadium now is. [10]
Morrone Stadium was the original home of the women's lacrosse team as well, when it was founded in 1997. However, the team began to play some, and eventually all, of its games at the Sherman Family-Sports Complex. The last lacrosse game at Morrone was in 2009 against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, which was the first time the team played there in three years. [11]
The listed capacity of Morrone Stadium is 5,100. There is one electronic scoreboard behind the south goal, which is capability of displaying the time, score and shots for both teams, as well as limited messages. The natural grass surface measures 120 x 75 yards. Long metal bleachers line both sides of the field, and there is also a small set of bleachers behind the south goal. There is also unofficially standing room behind the north goal, although this is typically only used by students in the "Goal Patrol", UConn soccer's student supporters group. The Goal Patrol is known for being one of the nation's loudest and most passionate student sections, and, as of 2007, was also the largest with 540 members. [12] Thanks in large part to these loyal fans, Soccer America Magazine voted Morrone Stadium the fifth-best atmosphere among all college soccer stadiums in the country in 2011. [13] Large crowds continue to attend UConn men's and women's games there, making it one of the toughest places for visiting teams to play.
Like many of the University of Connecticut Athletic Facilities, Morrone Stadium is located on Stadium Road, right next to Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum, which is home to the women's ice hockey team. It is also across the street from J.O. Christian Field, home of the baseball team. The softball field is nearby, as is the Werth Family UConn Basketball Champions Center and the Sherman Family Sports Complex. Gampel Pavilion, home to the men's and women's basketball teams and the women's volleyball team is located around the corner as well.
Note: Attendance goes back to the 2007 Season. * designates an NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament game.
Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|
September 24, 2011 | St. John's | W 2-0 | 5,100 |
October 22, 2011 | Georgetown | T 0-0 | 5,100 |
* December 4, 2011 | Charlotte | L 1-1 | 5,100 |
August 8, 2012 | St. Francis | W 1-0 | 5,100 |
September 22, 2012 | St. John's | W 3-0 | 5,100 |
September 29, 2012 | Notre Dame | W 2-1 | 5,100 |
October 27, 2012 | Providence | W 2-0 | 5,100 |
* December 2, 2012 | Creighton | L 0-1 | 5,100 |
August 31, 2015 | Quinnipiac | T 0-0 | 5,100 |
October 17, 2015 | UCF | W 2-1 | 5,100 |
August 28, 2016 | Omaha | W 2-0 | 5,100 |
October 15, 2016 | South Florida | L 0-1 | 5,100 |
August 22, 2022 | Holy Cross | W 2-1 | 5,212 |
|}
On October 13, 2014 it was announced the former UConn men’s soccer student-athlete Tony Rizza ’87 (BUS) has pledged a total of $8 million to transform the soccer complex and build a new soccer stadium on the Storrs campus. [14] The new facility will be built on the site of the current Joseph J. Morrone Stadium and will bear the same name. In February 2017, UConn announced a proposed plan for a new stadium with the potential to break ground in the spring of 2018. [15]
On September 26, 1999 6,070 fans attended the women's soccer game against the Syracuse Orangemen. At the time, this was a record for attendance at a regular season women's college soccer game. Additionally, Morrone Stadium has hosted various soccer tournaments. On November 11 and 13, 2005, Morrone Stadium hosted the 2005 Big East Soccer Tournament semifinals and finals. The regular-season co-champion Huskies defeated the South Florida Bulls 1-0. [16] It also hosted the semifinals and final of the 2006 Big East Women's Tournament, [17] the 2007 Big East Men'sTournament, [18] and the 2009 Women's Big East Tournament. [19] On February 9, 2011, the Big East Conference announced Morrone Stadium would again host the final two rounds of the Women's conference tournament in 2012, its first tournament in three years. [20] However, as a result of logistical issues related to postponements caused by Hurricane Sandy, the tournament was moved to Rentschler Field in East Hartford. [21] The stadium would later host the semifinals and final of the 2014 American Athletic Conference men's soccer tournament, where the Tulsa Golden Hurricane defeated USF 6-5 on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw. [22] Morrone has also hosted several games of the opening rounds of the Big East, American Athletic Conference, and NCAA Tournaments for both sexes, although those are typically played at the site of the higher seed.
The XL Center is a multi-purpose arena and convention center located in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Owned by the City of Hartford, it is managed by the quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) under a lease with the city and operated by Spectra. In December 2007, the center was renamed when the arena's naming rights were sold to XL Group insurance company in a six-year agreement. The arena is ranked the 28th largest among college basketball arenas. It opened in 1975 as the Hartford Civic Center and was originally located adjacent to Civic Center Mall, which was demolished in 2004. It consists of two facilities: the Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the Exhibition Center.
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field is a stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut. It is primarily used for football and soccer, and is the home field of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies. In 2010, it was home to the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League. The stadium, which opened in 2003, was the first stadium used primarily by an NCAA Division I-A team to open in the 21st century. The permanent stadium capacity is 40,000, consisting of 38,066 permanent seats with a standing-room area in the scoreboard plaza that can accommodate up to 1,934 people. It also has a game day capability to add approximately 3,000 temporary seats as it did for UConn football vs. Michigan in 2013. Connecticut played on campus at Memorial Stadium in Storrs, before 2003.
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The UConn Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's football team plays at Rentschler Field, and the men's and women's basketball teams play on-campus at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion and off-campus at the XL Center.
J. O. Christian Field was a baseball stadium in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was the home field of the Connecticut Huskies baseball team of the NCAA Division I's American Athletic Conference from 1968 through 2019. The stadium held seating for 2,000 people. It was named after former UConn baseball coach and athletic director, J. Orlean Christian. UConn played their last game at J.O. Christian field on May 11, 2019, with demolition the following month.
The UConn Huskies football team is a college football team that represents the University of Connecticut in the sport of American football. The team competes in NCAA Division I FBS as an independent. Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I-AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two-year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and became a full-fledged Division I-A team in 2002. From 2000 to 2003, the team played as an independent. The school's football team then joined the conference of its other sport teams, the Big East, taking effect in 2004, through 2019. In 2019, the UConn football team left the American to again play as an independent, as the school's current primary conference, the current Big East, does not sponsor the sport. The Huskies currently are coached by Jim Mora.
The UConn Huskies men's basketball program is the NCAA Division I men's college basketball team of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. They currently play in the Big East Conference and are coached by Dan Hurley. With six national championships and 45 conference titles, the program is considered one of the blue bloods of college basketball.
The 2009 Connecticut Huskies football team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season as a member of the Big East Conference. The team was coached by Randy Edsall and played its home games at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut. The team finished with a record of 8–5, 3–4 in Big East play and won the PapaJohns.com Bowl 20–7 against South Carolina.
Huskies of Honor is a recognition program sponsored by the University of Connecticut (UConn). Similar to a hall of fame, it honors the most significant figures in the history of the UConn Huskies—the university's athletic teams—especially the men's and women's basketball teams. The inaugural honorees, inducted in two separate ceremonies during the 2006–07 season, included thirteen men's basketball players, ten women's basketball players, and four head coaches, of whom two coaches—Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma—and two players—Ray Allen and Rebecca Lobo—are also enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Since that time, an additional nine women's basketball players, seven men's basketball players, five national championship teams, one women's basketball assistant coach, and one athletic director have been honored.
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