Update Nov. 21: The Huskies advanced to the third round of the 2011 NCAA College Cup Tournament on two goals by Mamadou Doudou Diouf ’14 (CLAS), who broke a 1-1 halftime tie with a penalty kick at 49:25 in the second half to defeat Monmouth 2-1. UConn will host James Madison next Sunday in Storrs at a time to be announced.

There is not much that men’s head soccer coach Ray Reid has not seen in his 22 years as a head soccer coach, including the past 15 seasons in Storrs – which is why he prefers to view his team’s prospects for each game one at a time, especially with a young squad.

After last week’s disappointing 1-0 overtime loss to St. John’s in the Big East Tournament, Reid says the Huskies (17-3-2) seem to have needed the motivation of a loss to get their attention, which they have done with each of their two previous regular season losses.

“I just think they’re young kids and have to keep getting focused,” says Reid, whose team is the overall No. 3 seed in the 2011 NCAA College Cup Tournament. They begin play on Sunday at 1 p.m., hosting Monmouth (14-5-2), which defeated Stony Brook Thursday on penalty kicks 5-4, at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in the second round of the tournament.

The Huskies, who spent the entire season in the Top 10 and spent four weeks at No. 1, will have the potential home field advantage through the quarterfinal round. North Carolina (17-2-2) is the top seed, followed by No. 2 Creighton (18-2), with Boston College (14-6) at No. 4. The College Cup Final Four will take place Dec. 9 and 11 in Hoover, Ala.

The Big East is well represented in the tournament with seven selections, more than any other conference, including South Florida (12-3-3), St. John’s (14-6-2), Louisville (12-6-2), Providence (10-7-1), West Virginia (10-7-1), and Rutgers 9-6-3). The Atlantic Coast Conference had six teams selected, including North Carolina and Boston College.

Reid says the Big East season has prepared the Huskies well for the College Cup Tournament.

“The league is very good and very competitive and gets us ready,” he says. “Now, all we’re worried about is playing Monmouth, and hopefully we’ll be ready to play on Sunday.”

Monmouth is led by freshman midfielder Kalle Sotka, who has 14 points on 6 goals and 2 assists, and junior midfielder Ryan Clark, who has 14 points on 3 goals and 8 assists. Sophomore midfielder Joseph Schmid has 11 points on 3 goals and 5 assists. Junior goalkeeper Alex Blackburn has played every minute for the Hawks, making 52 saves with a 0.58 goals against average.

The Huskies’ offense continues to be led by sophomore forward Mamadou Doudou Diouf ’14 (CLAS), a First Team All-Big East selection who has scored 22 points, with 10 goals and 2 assists, and junior forward Stephane Diop ’13 (CLAS), who has 17 points on 5 goals and 7 assists.

Defensively, the team is anchored by freshman goalkeeper Andre Blake ’15 (CLAS), who registered 75 saves, has a 0.35 goals against average, and earned honors as Big East Goalkeeper of the Year; and sophomore center back Andrew Jean-Baptiste ’14 (CLAS), who is the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Both were also named to the All-Big East First Team.

The Huskies are making their 14th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and have an overall record of 34-25-4 in the tournament. UConn won the NSCAA National Championship in 1948, and brought home two NCAA Titles in 1981 and 2000.

Tickets for the match are available at the UConn Ticket Center or by calling 1-877-AT-UCONN. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for youths and seniors.