University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
1-2
James Madison
2-1
Huskies Fall to No.21 James Madison
2/14/2026 2:14:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
SPARKS, Md.- UConn women's lacrosse (1-2) fell to #21 James Madison (2-1) by a score of 13-11 at the USA Lacrosse Facility on Saturday afternoon
How it Happened:
The Dukes fired the opening salvo, as Jordan Peterson scored on the free position to take an early 1-0 lead. Brianna Mennella doubled the JMU advantage three minutes into the game, converting on a feed from Payton Root. Olivia Matthews found the back of the net on the free position to pad the JMU lead to 3-0 five minutes into the first. UConn cut into the lead, thanks to goals from Ava Plata and Hadley Bethke, bringing the Huskies within one at 3-2. With 3:49 left in the first, Rayea Davis scored to tie the score at 3-3. Root vaulted JMU back in front, putting the Dukes up 4-3. UConn responded with Bethke's second goal of the game and a Meg O'Brien free-position goal, putting the Huskies up 5-4 at the end of the first.
Mennella tied the score at 5-5 on the free position three minutes into the second. Root put JMU back in front 6-5 on the free position with eight minutes left in the quarter. Plata scored her second of the day, but the Dukes quickly answered thanks to Peterson's second, going in front 7-6. Kaitlyn Carney scored for JMU to help give the Dukes an 8-6 halftime lead.
Lauren Savage opened the scoring in the second half to stretch the JMU lead to 9-6. Mennella completed the hat trick to give the Dukes their largest lead of the day at 10-6. Bethke tallied her own hat trick for UConn's first goal of the half to bring the Huskies within three. Peterson tacked on another JMU goal as the Dukes took an 11-7 edge into the fourth quarter.
O'Brien tallied her second goal of the afternoon to make the score 11-8. Eve McGrogan scored for the first time in 2026 on the woman-up advantage to inch UConn closer at 11-9. Peterson notched her fourth of the day to re-up the JMU lead to 12-9 with 6:47 remaining. Emma Dacey responded for the Huskies, converting on a Davis assist to close the gap to 12-10. Matthews converted for JMU, giving the Dukes a three-goal lead with just over three minutes to play. O'Brien scored her third of the day, but the comeback effort would fall short as JMU held on for the victory.
Notes and Numbers:
- O'Brien registered five points (three goals and two assists). The sophomore has recorded five points in each of UConn's first three games
- Bethke scored three more goals to continue the red-hot start to her UConn career. The freshman has 10 goals so far this season.
- Barlow Clark-Schoeb had seven draw controls to lead the Huskies.
Up Next: UConn will welcome Stony Brook on Tuesday, February 24th at 3:00pm for its 2026 home opener.
