University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
12-5
Georgetown University
6-10
Huskies Headed to the BIG EAST Championship Game
5/6/2021 10:44:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
WASHINGTON, D.C. – UConn senior Sydney Watson (Prince Fredrick, Md.) and junior Lia LaPrise (Windsor, Conn.) combined to score nine goals with two assists to lead the Huskies into the BIG EAST Championship game with a 15-13 win over Georgetown Thursday night at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C.
The Huskies will return to the BIG EAST title game for the second time in program history and the first time since 2015 when they take on the top-seed Denver on Saturday, May 6 at 12 noon live on FS2.
LaPrise scored four of her game-high five goals in the second half as the Huskies erased a 6-5 halftime deficit with 10 goals over the final 30 minutes en route to the semifinal win. Watson finished with four goals and a dominant force on draws, winning 11 draw controls as the Huskies held a 19-11 advantage over the Hoyas.
Georgetown kept the Huskies' high-powered offense in check in the early going and built a 4-1 lead. The Huskies got their offense started with three-straight from LaPrise, senior Stephanie Palmucci (Herndon, Va.) and Watson to tie it up at 4-4 with just over seven minutes left in the half.
The Hoyas got two back as Mary Pagano and Ali Diamond each scored their first of three on the night to lead with 5:03 on the clock. Watson got her second with just 26 seconds left before the half that would ignite a 9-1 run into the second half that gave the Huskies the lead for good.
UConn's LaPrise sandwiched a pair of goals around one from sophomore Kate Shaffer (West Hartford, Conn.) to open the second half and the Huskies took off from there. Diamond briefly paused the run but the Huskies rang off four-straight by Watson, senior Abby Vetsch (Marcellus, N.Y.), junior Grace Coon (Marcellus, N.Y.) and LaPrise to take their biggest lead of the night at 12-7 with 19:59 on the clock.
Georgetown refused to fade away and put together a four-goal rally to pull within 12-11 with 11:32 to go. Pagano scored twice on the run. On their next possession the Huskies avoided a shot clock violation as LaPrise found Coon in front who buried it with just four seconds left to end the rally. Watson scored her fourth and LaPrise her fifth as the Huskies twice grabbed a three-goal lead in the final 6:49. Georgetown's Caroline Frick cut the lead to 15-13 with 2:45 left and the Hoyas won the ensuing draw. The Huskies were able to force a turnover and get a clear, using a time-out and keeping possession until just 19 seconds were left to secure the win.
The win, the third-straight over Georgetown this season, improved the Huskies to 12-5 overall on the year, tying the UConn school record for wins in a season (12 – 2016, 2005).
UConn junior goaltender Landyn White (Alpharetta, Ga.) made nine saves to earn the win, her 12th on the season to tie the school record for goaltender wins (12 – Shannon Nee, 2016).
