Coming off Joe Morrone's first National Championship, the graduation of great talent in Pedro Debrito and Elvis Comrie and a strong core returning, there was hope UConn Men's Soccer could continue it's winning ways. And in the fall of 1982, they added another D.C. area native who could score...Matt Addington..The O'Donnell High School property scored 130 goals while being a 3x All Met Selection. The UConn Head Coach liked him and convinced him to play in Storrs...
From a team standpoint in the fall of 1982, the Huskies played in 10 overtime games in a 15-3-7 season...With Bill Morrone as the team captain..The Huskies returned to the post season with a PK win over BC and a 2-1 PK victory over LIU that sent the Huskies to a second straight Final Four before losing to Duke in the semi's 2-1...Addington would play a larger role in the 1983 season...UConn went 16-9-1 as the Big East Title was was now something to chase. And the Huskies won the tournament. Scoring one of the UConn Goals in a 5-1 rout of Syracuse in the Final..Part of a 6 game win streak that vaulted the Huskies back to the Final Four..After a 2-0 win over Providence, the Huskies hosted Alabama A&M, the team they beat in 1981 to win the National Championship. A crazed home crowd of 8,365 at the then UConn Soccer Stadium say teh Huskies emerge a 1-0 winner where Addington scored the game winner and what turned out to be, the final goal of UConn's Season. A 4-0 loss to Columbia in the National Semi's ended a 16-9-1 season...
In 1984, Addington would score 17 goals on the season, including a 3g-2a effort against Fairfield for an 8 point day. The second most points by a Husky in one game. In the Big East Tournament, Addington and his teammates would repeat as Big East Tournament Champion. A 5-0 win over Syracuse and a 1-0 over Providence where Addington scored the game winner to earn Tourney MVP Honors....But he not only got a thigh bruise in the win, he had a nerve compressed in his arm when a Harvard player stepped on his arm in the Crimson's 1-0 win over UConn in the NCAA Tournament to eliminate the Huskies. Addington was named to the All New England and New England Intercollegiate All Star Teams in 1984.
1985 would be a great season for Matt Addington..First named a captain and he would continue he goal scoring spurt of 1984. 20 goals and 6 assists in a 17-4-3 season. From September 11th to October 23rd, the Huskies would reel off 14 straight victories...And on November 3rd, Addington scored the game winner in a 3-2 home win over St. Louis to get Joe Morrone his 400th career win. Unfortunately, the Huskies would fall in the Big East Championship Game to Syracuse 1-0 followed by a devastating 2-1 OT loss to BU in the NCAA Tournament. The 20 goals and 46 points at the time were the 3rd highest goal/point totals in a season for UConn Men's Soccer.
Matt Addington ended with 52 goals, third best in school history and 127 points...The 4th Husky to surpass 100 points. Matt not only repeated as ALl New England and New England Intercollegiate League All Stars, Matt also was named 2nd Team All American and was elected to play in the Senior Bowl Outdoor Game...
Matt didn't pursue a pro soccer career, but 4 years playing for Joe Morone prepared him for the future...In the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency. Foundation for leadership and understanding commitment. And while stationed in Columbia and Peru, he did play club soccer. Today Matt is employed by Go Secure, Inc as an Executive VP/Federal - Cyber Security..
Matt Addington, UConn Men's Soccer's #3 All Time Leading Goal Scorer, a 1985 All American and a UConn Legend