As a football is kicked from its tee at Rentschler Field this Saturday, the field hockey team will simultaneously face off against the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor.
In coach Nancy Steven's words, "the crystal ball is cloudy," implying that it is unclear whether the longest game drought of the 2009 season will help or hurt the Huskies.
On Sept. 6 the Huskies won a competitive match 2-1 against No. 13 Penn State to extend their undefeated record to 4-0. UConn outshot Penn State by only two shots. Loren Sherer scored one goal and assisted in Cara Silverman's goal.
At 1-3 the Wolverines were ranked 20th in the Sept. 8 National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll. Michigan's record does not accurately represent the team's capabilities. The Wolverines have arguably had the most difficult schedule in all of Division 1 field hockey thus far. They have played the 1st, 2nd and 4th ranked teams in three of their first four games. Those highly ranked teams included Maryland, North Carolina and Wake Forest now make up the top three nationally ranked teams. Michigan's first and only win was a 5-1 blowout against unranked Temple, whom UConn beat 2-0 in their season opener.
Preceding the road trip to Ann Arbor, Stevens said, "We have a lot of game film on Michigan. We are really well prepared. Our games with them have been fantastic and I expect it to be very close." Hopefully the homework Stevens and her staff has done in preparing their team will bring them success weekend.
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