UConn looks for first victory

The last thing that a team on a losing streak wants to talk about is, well, their losing streak. Just ask the women's lacrosse team.

After coming up short in their first seven games of the season, the Huskies will look to end their current skid and crack the win column for the first time in 2009. According to the UConn players, however, the slow start to their season has not put any additional pressure on them - a testament to the attitude emanated by head coach Angela McMahon.

"We know we're better than our record is showing," said junior midfielder Laura Eichert. "[McMahon] makes sure we're confident, that we expect to win."

After last year's 1-15 season, the team admitted that the constant losing began to weigh on them, draining their energy and essentially taking away much of their will to compete. This year, the Huskies have remained in good spirits in spite of their early struggles and are eager to get on track.

"We just need to be able to put everything together for the whole game and find ways to win," Eichert said.

These sentiments should be on the minds of the Huskies when they host Harvard on Wednesday. The team's underwhelming record has not been a result of any lack of talent or effort, but rather an inability to execute for a full 60 minutes. Of the team's seven losses, most were close games, and two were decided by a single goal.

In their attempt to beat Harvard, the Huskies will continue to lean on the talented freshmen duo of M.E. Lapham and Kiersten Tupper, who have combined with senior Whitney Michele to give the Huskies a very skilled trio on the attack.

Lapham was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for her five goal performance in the team's Big East opener against Syracuse and added another two scores and an assist against Marist.

During the first few games of her career, Tupper has been a model of efficiency for UConn. The former High School All-American is responsible for nearly half of the Huskies' assists on the season (16 out of 33) and a remarkable 100 percent of her shots have been on target (16/16), 10 of which have found the back of the net for scores.

Harvard (2-3) is in its second season under coach Lisa Miller, who is known for building the Syracuse program to its current elite status. Last year, she led the Crimson to a 9-7 record, with five of those losses coming to nationally ranked opponents.

Including 10 with Syracuse and her inaugural campaign with Harvard, 11 consecutive Miller-coached teams have played to winning records, and this team will look to become the 12th. Their most recent on-field action was the Crimson's second loss in a row, causing a miniature skid of their own. They fell to Brown on Saturday despite an impressive three goals from Jess Halpern, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

One losing streak will have to end when the two teams meet at the George J. Sherman-Family Sports Complex at 4 p.m today.