Huskies Fall to Harvard in Elite 8

Sunday, November 16

Cambridge, MA

1:00 PM

University of Connecticut

(12-9)

Harvard

(19-1)

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UConn	0	0	0	0	0
Harvard	0	1	0	0	1

11/16/2025 3:07:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – UConn lost a hard-fought battle to Harvard with a final score of 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this afternoon.

The Huskies opened strong defensively, denying Harvard's lone penalty corner of the first quarter forcing Lara Beekhuis to shoot wide at 6:15. UConn then earned three consecutive corners but couldn't find the back of the cage. Pien Prins had two shots saved (10:19, 10:51), and Fien Hollander saw her attempt blocked (10:20). The first quarter ended scoreless at 0-0.

Early in the second, Lene Bujes had a shot blocked before Harvard broke through at 18:30, converting a penalty corner for the 1-0 lead. UConn continued to press, with Bujes forcing a save from Linde Burger, while goalkeeper Natalie McKenna came up clutch, denying a stroke attempt by Martha le Huray at 29:47. The Huskies entered halftime trailing 1-0.

UConn pushed hard in the third quarter, earning a corner that led to a blocked shot from Julia Bressler. McKenna anchored the defense with two key saves, one on Tilly Butterworth's corner attempt at 42:38 and another alongside a defensive stop by Prins at 44:30. The score remained 1-0 heading into the final 15 minutes.

In the fourth quarter, McKenna continued to shine, recording her fourth save on Harvard's seventh corner and another at 56:08 before leaving at 56:59 to give UConn an extra field player for the closing offensive push. Despite relentless effort on both defense and offense, the Huskies couldn't find the equalizer, ending with a score of 1-0.

UConn concludes an impressive 2025 season with a 12-8 overall record, including 6-1 in conference play and 6-7 non-conference.