Field hockey suffers its first loss of the season

Although the UConn field hockey team’s season is beginning to wind down, their playing has been hotter than ever. This weekend the Huskies played two away games against No. 16 Boston College and No. 2 Princeton. UConn continued their winning streak to beat Boston College, but couldn’t hold on to their undefeated record, falling to Princeton for their first loss of regular season play.

On Friday, UConn traveled to Boston to play the Boston College Eagles. Chloe Hunnable and Louisa Boddy scored two goals apiece while Marie Elena Bolles scored one to help the Huskies beat the Eagles 5-1. Chloe Hunnable started UConn’s success with her first goal only 6:45 into the contest. Hunnable’s second goal of the game came with just nine seconds left into the first half. Marie Elena Bolles crossed a strong shot off of a corner to Hunnable who had a direct shot on net. Hunnable’s goal helped the Huskies keep a strong lead of 3-0 at halftime. UConn remained the dominant force throughout the game outshooting the Eagles 16-8. The Huskies also had seven corners compared to Boston’s one. Goalie, Sarah Mansfield, had five saves throughout the whole game, which helped the Huskies prevail. This past Monday, Mansfield was honored as the Big East defensive player of the week for the second week in a row. She has received this honor an overall three times this season, making her a huge threat to opposing teams.

On Sunday, UConn field hockey suffered its first defeat of the season, losing 4-1 against the No. 2 Princeton Tigers. Princeton’s Teresa Benvenuti gave the Tigers the upper hand, scoring the first goal just 4:05 into the game. Kathleen Sharkey scored two goals for the Tigers, while Sydney Kirby added in one goal to help Princeton win the match. The Huskies fought hard to even the game up before the first half was over; Marie Elena Bolles nearly scored to tie up the game but Princeton’s goalie, Julia Boyle, was at her best. Alicia Angelini scored UConn’s only goal of the game off of a penalty stroke 50:36 into the game. Princeton outshot UConn 15-6 and had five corners compared to the Huskies three.

UConn played a long and hard fought game against a top ranked opponent, but came up short. Although this game prevented the team from going undefeated in the season, they have had a phenomenal run. They should be proud of their accomplishments, beating numerous top ranked opponents and earning several shut outs, and use this as motivation for the remainder of the season. This loss will motivate the Huskies even more to beat the Syracuse Orange in their last regular season game on the October 27th.