University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Looking to Snap Four-Game Losing Skid
10/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
About Northeastern
Northeastern, currently ranked No. 18 in the STX/NFHCA Coaches Poll, has dropped only three games this season to Harvard and nationally-ranked Princeton and James Madison. The Huskies are on a two-game win streak entering this game.
UConn vs. Northeastern
Today’s game will be the 22nd meeting between these two teams. They first met in 1975, the second year of UConn field hockey. The Huskies of Northeastern claimed that match-up with a 5-0 shutout victory. The next game, which didn’t happen until the 1982 season, five years later, was claimed by the Huskies of UConn, 4-0. The next two were claimed by UConn as well before Northeastern became one of only two losses the Huskies experienced during their 1985 National Championship season. The two teams have met at least once every season for the last 14 years, and most recently UConn was defeated by Northeastern, 2-1, on Oct. 18, 2000.
Last Time Out
The University of Connecticut field hockey team faced two tough losses this weekend.
vs. Rutgers
The Huskies continued to struggle in the BIG EAST on Saturday as the Huskies fell to Rutgers, 2-1, in Piscataway, NJ.
The Scarlet Knights, previously winless in the BIG EAST, improved their record to 3-10 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST, while the Huskies fell to 5-7 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST.
Rutgers used a goal in each of the halves to overcome UConn.
The Scarlet Knights struck first in the game with a goal at the 12:34 mark of the second half by Andschana Mendes from Leann Grondski and Rebecca Lippincott on a penalty corner. They then added to their score with just under 15 minutes gone in the second half off a penalty corner goal from Grondski from Lippincott and Heidi Harvey.
The Huskies staged a comeback later in the second half when freshman Lauren Henderson (Avondale Harare, Zimbabwe) moved the Huskies to within one off a goal that came a minute after RU’s second one. Henderson was assisted on the play by sophomores Lauren Christie (Raby, Australia) and Amy Marland (Mt. Warrigal, Australia).
UConn was unable to scoring the tieing goal, however, and fell for the third time in the last three games.
vs. No. 7 Princeton
Despite a tough second-half comeback, the University of Connecticut field hockey team was unable to overcome the No. 7 Princeton Tigers as the Huskies fell Sunday, 3-2, in Princeton, NJ.
The loss dropped the Huskies to 5-8 overall, while elevating the Tigers to 10-2 on the season.
Princeton struck first in the game with a goal at the 16:12 mark of the first half by Emily Townsend from Cory Picketts. The goal gave the Tigers a 1-0 halftime lead, but the Huskies weren’t going to let it stay that way.
With nearly fifteen minutes gone in the second half, UConn tied up the score off a goal from Megan Ware (Latham, NY), her first of the season, assisted by freshman Lauren Henderson (Avondale Harare, Zimbabwe).
The Tigers took the lead a minute later, though, off a goal by Rachael Becker, assisted by Natalie Martirosian.
UConn wasn’t prepared to give up, though, and tied the score again when sophomore Amy Marland (Mt. Warrigal, Australia) netted one, assisted by junior Kelly Stolle (Warren, CT).
Princeton’s Becker put in the game-winning goal, though, with 11:52 left in the game.
Freshman Face-Off
Both UConn and Northeastern boast two very talented freshmen who will face-off against each other. Liane Dixon, NU’s freshman forward from Oak Bluffs, MA, is currently leading her team in goals and points with eight and 20, respectively, and is tied for second in assists with four. UConn’s dazzling freshman Lauren Henderson, from Avondale Harare, Zimbabwe, just edges Dixon with 11 goals and 27 points, both the most on the team, while complementing that with five assists, -tied for second on the team.
Ranked-Team Woes
This match-up with No. 18 Northeastern will be the fifth game vs. a ranked opponent this season for the Huskies, who are still searching for their first win over a ranked opponent. Ranked teams they struggled with this season include North Carolina, Penn State, Old Dominion and Princeton. Against the Tigers of Princeton, the Huskies put up their toughest battle yet, coming back to tie the game after being down 1-0 at halftime, but were unable to stop the final goal by the Tigers.
Conference Calamity
The Huskies have taken the BIG EAST regular-season title for the past five years and have won the conference tournament four of the past five years, including three conssecutive titles. However, this season, the Huskies are struggling to even qualify for the tournament.
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 and Rutgers, in close 2-1 games. UConn only has one conference game remaining, against No. 19 Syracuse, the team picked, pre-season, to win the BIG EAST conference. The Orangmen are currently undefeated in the conference with games left against Providence and Connecticut.
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 in the BIG EAST in assists and has scored six goals this season, including three in one game. Christie, part of the Huskies 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 and Maureen Butler are racing up the charts.
Henderson is currently tied for 9th in points and goals, tied for 10th in goals per game and tied for 11th in points per game. Butler, the Huskies goalkeeper, is 14th in saves with 101.
Nearing Perfection
Three Husky players have had perfect games this season. Junior Kelly Stolle and sophomore Amy Marland were both 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 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, is currently sitting at first in goals while sophomore Amy Marland and junior Kelly Stolle are tied for seventh. Henderson also holds the top spot in points, as well, above Marland and Stolle who are sitting tied for fifth and seventh, respectively. In assists, Marland is tied for third in the conference.
In conference-game-only statistics, Henderson leads the way there, as well, in both points and goals.
The Protector
Junior goalie Maureen Butler has started all thirteen Husky games this season and has played all but 3:34 of the 910:00 minutes of the games. She has tallied two shutouts, against St. Joseph’s in the Morgan Stanley Husky Classic and against Providence on Oct. 3. 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. This weekend, she surpassed the 100-save mark, and currently sits at 101 with a .795 save percentage. Nationally, following last week’s action, she was sitting at 14th in saves.
Most recently, she was named the 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.
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 two UConn games. In addition, Henderson is currently sitting atop UConn and BIG EAST statistical categories with 11 goals, five assists and 27 points She has also taken the most shots out of all the players in the Husky line-up with 72, over 30 more than the next highest Husky.
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.
