University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Searching for BIG EAST Win
10/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
About Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights of Rutgers are currently 2-10 on the season and winless in the BIG EAST through three games. Their two wins have come against Hofstra in their first game of the season and St. Joseph’s. RU has faced Syracuse, Villanova and Providence already in the BIG EAST. Following today’s game, they will have only Boston College left.
UConn vs. Rutgers
Today’s game will be the 18th meeting between these two teams. They first met in 1977, UConn’s fourth field hockey season, with the Huskies taking a 1-0 victory. Since then, RU has only been able to top UConn once and tie the Huskies once. The teams have never met more than once in a season, and UConn is riding a five-game win streak into today’s game. The Huskies last fell to the Scarlet Knights on Oct. 14, 1995.
Last Time Out
The University of Connecticut field hockey team fell in its third BIG EAST game of the season Wednesday night to Boston College, 2-1.
The loss dropped the Huskies to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in the BIG EAST, and took the Eagles record to 6-6 overall and 2-1 in the BIG EAST.
UConn struck first with a goal by freshman Lauren Henderson (Avondale Harare, Zimbabwe), her 10th of the season, assisted by junior Kelly Stolle (Warren, CT) at the 24:06 mark of the first half.
When it looked like the Huskies would take the lead into halftime, the Eagles came back with a goal of their own with only 11 seconds remaining on the clock. Lauren Schultz manuevered the ball around UConn goalie Maureen Butler (Red Hook, NY) for an unassisted goal.
BC sealed the game at the 11:30 mark of the second half when Kim French scored on another unassisted goal.
Conference Calamity
After sweeping the BIG EAST conference last season, the Huskies are struggling through the race this season. They dropped their conference opener for the first time since the 1997 season, and after coming back with a decisive 3-0 win over Providence, fell to Boston College in a close 2-1 game.
Lost Games
In light of the Sept. 11 national tragedy, three UConn field hockey games were canceled. On Sept. 12 the Huskies were slated to take on New Hampshire at Harvard. Then, after an excecutive decision from UConn Athletic Director Lew Perkins, all Husky athletic events for the weekend were canceled, including field hockey match-ups with No. 4 Michigan and No. 9 Iowa in the BIG EAST-Big Ten Challenge in Storrs.
Awesome Aussies
Lauren Christie and Amy Marland, both sophomores from Australia, have stepped up big this season for the Huskies. Marland is currently ranked both in the BIG EAST and nationally in assists and has scored five goals this season, including three in one game. Christie, part of the Huskies’ stingy defense, most recently stepped up on the offensive end, scoring two of the Huskies three goals against UMass on Sept. 29, then added her third on Oct. 3 in the Huskies 3-0 shutout of Providence.
Nation-Wide
Husky players are making marks in more than just conference statistics. Nationally Lauren Henderson, Amy Marland and Maureen Butler are racing up the charts.
Henderson is currently 12th in goals, 10th in goals per game, seventh in points per game, and 12th in points. Marland is tied for 13th in assists per game. Butler, the Huskies goalkeeper, is 13th in both save percentage and saves.
As a team, Connecticut is 20th overall in scoring offense with 2.40 goals per game.
Nearing Perfection
Junior Kelly Stolle and sophomore Amy Marland are boasting shot percentages of .400 and .179, respectively, through eleven games played this season. Both were 100 percent against Harvard on Sept. 19 as every shot they tallied scored a goal.
Sophomore Lauren Christie has recently joined their ranks, as well, as Christie’s shot percentage is sitting at .500 with six shots on the season and three goals. During a two-game span earlier this season, she went 3-for-3, with every shot tallying a goal for the Huskies.
More Than One
Four different Husky players have had multi-goal games so far this season. Freshman Lauren Henderson and junior Kelly Stolle both tallied two goals apiece in UConn’s first victory of the season over St. Joseph’s. In their second win, sophomore Amy Marland netted a whopping three goals, then Stolle added two more in the Huskies’ Sept. 19 win over Harvard. Against Massachusetts on Sept. 29, sophomore Lauren Christie netted two of her own, the first two of her career. Henderson added to her already escalating season on Oct. 3 when she netted two more goals in the Huskies’ win over BIG EAST foe Providence.
Rulin’ the Conference
Three Husky players are sitting pretty atop the BIG EAST statistical categories for points and goals after last week’s games. Freshman Lauren Henderson, sophomore Amy Marland and junior Kelly Stolle are sitting at first, third and seventh, respectively, in points, and first, eighth and third, respectively in goals.
In conference-game-only statistics, Henderson leads the way there as well, tied with Villanova’s Christina Lugones, with three goals apiece. She is second in points to Lugones.
As a team in conference-game-only statistics, UConn is sitting second in two of the categories and is tied for first in a third. The Huskies sit three below Villanova in both goals and assists and have tallied one conference shutout this season, along with three other teams.
The Protector
Junior goalie Maureen Butler has started all eleven Husky games this season and has played all but 3:34 of the 770 minutes of the games. She has tallied two shutouts, against St. Joseph’s in the Morgan Stanley Husky Classic and most recently against Providence last Wednesday night. In UConn’s 4-1 win over Harvard on Sept. 19, she deflected 16 of the Crimson’s 20 shots and allowed just one goal. On Oct. 6, she added another 16 to her total when UConn was defeated by No. 4 Old Dominion, 3-0. She currently has 89 saves on the season and a .809 save percentage. Nationally, following last week’s action, she was sitting at 13th in both save percentage and saves.
Most recently, she was named Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the BIG EAST for the week of Oct. 1-7. In the two games played that week, she recorded 22 saves and one shutout.
Stevens’ Smokin’
In her 12th season at the University of Connecticut, Nancy Stevens continues to lead the Huskies down the path to success.
While at UConn, she has tallied 12-straight winning seasons, five-straight BIG EAST regular-season championships, five BIG EAST tournament championhips, five-straight NCAA tournament appearences (six overall), three NCAA Final Eight appearances, and two NCAA Final Four appearances.
In her 22 seasons of coaching, Stevens has climbed the charts, and now holds the fourth-highest winning total nationally with a career record of 344-114-24 for a .739 winning percentage.
Ware’s Final Campaign
Megan Ware, the lone senior on this year’s roster has begun her final campaign in good fashion, leading her team to a championship at the Morgan Stanley Husky Classic on Sept. 1-2. Ware has played and started in all eleven games, tallying 15 shots and two assists on the season thus far. She is also part of a stingy Husky defense that has tallied two shutouts this season.
Freshmen Phenoms
Two of the nine freshmen on this season’s squad have seen action in every game this season. Lauren Henderson has started every game this season, and Kirsty Slagter has started all but one UConn game. In addition, Henderson is currently sitting atop UConn and BIG EAST statistical categories with ten goals, four assists and 24 points She has also taken the most shots out of all the players in the Husky line-up with 61, over 30 more than the next highest Huskie.
Puttin’ ’Em In
After going scoreless in their first outing of the season, the Huskies have come back in fine fashion, scoring 25- goals in nine games.
Stolle’s Accolades
Junior Kelly Stolle was named the BIG EAST Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the week of August 27-September 2, along with Syracuse’s Kristin Aronowicz. Stolle was also named the MVP for the Connecticut team at the Morgan Stanley Husky Classic.
