The UConn field hockey team exacted revenge on Syracuse in last weekend's Big East Championship but this weekend, the Huskies received payback of their own.
No. 12 Drexel avenged a regular-season loss to No. 5 UConn, and ended the Huskies' national championship aspirations with a 3-2 win in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the University of Maryland. UConn finished the season with a 19-3 record, while the Dragons advanced to the Elite Eight against No. 1 Maryland, also with a 19-3 record. Although the Huskies won the Big East tournament and had two more wins than last year, their season ends in a first round loss again. Last year, Duke defeated UConn 1-0 in the first round which was also played in College Park, Md.
Jestine Angelini put UConn on top 1-0 ended three minutes into the game off a penalty corner. Drexel tied the game when Kim Tunell scored off a corner. The Dragons took the lead with no time remaining in the first half. Tunell again beat Andrea Mainiero, playing her last game in net for UConn, off a penalty corner that came at the buzzer. The Dragons peppered Mainiero with 20 shots on the day and had nine penalty corners. Mainiero had seven saves, but the UConn offense was stymied. The Huskies only had 10 shots in the game.
After Drexel took a 3-1 lead in the second half, the Huskies would not let their season slip away without at fight. Rayell Heistand had an opportunity to cut the lead to one on a penalty stroke, but freshman goaltender Jenna Phillips made the save. Loren Sherer broke the UConn single-season record for goals with her 32nd goal of the year to make the game 3-2. The Huskies could not get an equalizer as time wound down, and their season was over.
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