Freshman Preston Alessi o came off the bench in the second half, assisted on one goal and scored the game-winner, as the UConn men’s soccer team defeated Akron, 2-1, in the Big East semifinal at Boyds, Md., Thursday night.

Alessio, from Beacon Falls, played at Taft School in Watertown, where he helped win a championship, was state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, a New England player of the year and a United Soccer coaches All-American in 2024. Now he’s had a first-year impact at UConn, as the Huskies close in on the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018, and first since Chris Gbandi took over as head coach.

“It’s the mentality, we talk a lot about competing, a lot about not giving up and this team has done that all year,” Gbandi said. “We talk about everybody stepping u

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