University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Look to Break Losing Skid
9/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
About UMass
UMass started the season out with a loss to both Northeastern and New Hampshire, but bounced back with a 2-1 win over Boston College. Since then it has gone 1-2 with a win over Indiana and losses to nationally-ranked Michigan and, most recently, Harvard, a team UConn beat just last week.
UConn vs. UMass
The series record between these two teams currently stands at 20-12-3. The first meeting was in 1975 with a 4-0 win for UMass. The next game was a victory for the Minutewomen, as well, before the Huskies went on a five-game winning streak. Since then, the games have gone back and forth until, most recently, when UConn strung together a seven-game winning streak before falling last season.
Last Time Out
The Brown Bears used hot scoring from Meaghan Harwood to defeat the No. 19 University of Connecticut field hockey team, 4-2, on Wednesday in Providence, RI.
With the win, the Bears picked up their first win of the season to improve to 1-3 overall as the Huskies dropped to 3-4.
BU’s Megan Patterson struck first with an unassisted goal at the 29:15 mark of the first half, but freshman Lauren Henderson (Avondale Harare, Zimbabwe) tied the scored with her own unassisted goal, her seventh of the season, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Looking to put the game out of reach after halftime, UConn was unable to capitalize on its nine shots in the second half, connecting on only one. Sophomore Amy Marland (Mt. Warrigal, Australia) netted one, unassisted, at the 20:12 mark of the second half, but Harwood had already tallied a pair, putting the Bears up, 3-2. With just over three minutes remaining, Brown’s Lizzie Buza further sealed the win with a goal from Ashley Wallace.
Droppin’ the Opener
Last Saturday, the Huskies dropped their conference opener to Villanova, 2-1. It was the first time since 1997 that UConn failed to win its conference opener. Providence defeated UConn on Nov. 13, 1997, 3-2, for the Huskies last conference-opening loss.
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.
Nearing Perfection
Junior Kelly Stolle and sophomore Amy Marland are boasting shot percentages of .500 and .227, respectively, through the seven games played this season. Both were 100 percent against Harvard on Sept. 19 as every shot they tallied scored a goal.
More Than One
Three 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.
The Protector
Junior goalie Maureen Butler has started all seven Husky games this season and has played all but 3:34 of the 490 minutes of the games. She has tallied one shutout, against St. Joseph’s. 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. She currently has 55 saves on the season and a .786 save percentage. Nationally, following last week’s action, she was sitting at 20th in both save percentage and saves.
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 fourth, respectively, in points, and first, second and third, respectively in goals.
The team as a whole is also running the show as UConn leads in the goals scored category with 16 and sits at second in assists with 13, led only by Boston College with 15.
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 six games, tallying 13 shots and two assists on the season thus far. She is also part of a stingy Husky defense that has allowed only 15 goals this season.
Freshmen Phenoms
Two of the nine freshmen on this season’s squad have seen action in every game this season. Lauren Henderson and Kirsty Slagter have started all seven UConn games. In addition, Henderson is currently sitting atop UConn and BIG EAST statistical categories with six goals, one assist and 13 points She has also taken the most shots out of all the players in the Husky line-up with 41, 19 more than the next highest and has tallied seven goals, the most on the team.
Puttin’ ’Em In
After going scoreless in their first outing of the season, the Huskies have come back in fine fashion, scoring 18 goals in their past five games to lead the BIG EAST in goals scored.
Nation-Wide
Husky players are making marks in more than just conference statistics. Nationally Lauren Henderson, Kelly Stolle, Amy Marland and Maureen Butler are racing up the charts.
Henderson is currently ninth in goals, seventh in goals per game, 15th in points per game, and 16th in points. Stolle is tied for 18th in points per game and 18th in goals per game. Marland is tied for 18th with Stolle in points per game, tied for 17th in assists and tied for 14th in assists per game. Butler, the Hukies goalkeeper, is 20th in both save percentage and saves.
As a team, Connecticut is 15th overall in scoring offense with 2.67 goals per game.
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.
