Lacrosse Honors Graduating Seniors

By: Christina Carrah

Posted: 4/28/06

Women's lacrosse (5-10-0, 0-5 Big East) will play their final game of the regular season Friday April 28th at 7 p.m. against No. 19 Stanford at Joseph J. Monroe Stadium.

Despite their record, the team did have some bright spots with stellar performances form captain Abbey VanDeusen, Shannon Burke, Kristin Link, Laura Trasko, Cea Fong and Kristen Haldeman.

The team will be celebrating senior night when they play Stanford Friday. Before the opening draw, the three seniors - Haldeman, VanDeusen, and Fong will be honored for their careers at UConn.

Haldeman, the current goalkeeper, as a Freshmen saw some time in three games against Lafayette, Quinnipiac and Fairfield. Overall she made one save and only allowed four goals. Haldeman saw 25 minutes in the net for a 9.75 goals against average.

As a sophomore, she played in four games and totaled just under 30 minutes, where she faced 12 shots, saving five and yielding five goals.

As a junior, Haldeman saw more action, playing in 10 games and totaling 209 minutes in the net.

As a senior, Haldeman played in 15, games totaling 906 minutes with a game average of 11.55 saves and a .503 save perentage.

"Kristen's been phenomenal all season - she loves the challenge she steppes up to it every time," head coach Bonnie Rosen said. "I just wish we could end up with the win for her because she is doing a fantastic job for us" Coach Bonnie Rosen said.

VanDeusen will also be honored on Friday. VanDeusen has been a key player for the Huskies all season. VanDeusen came to UConn as a freshman in 2002, but took a medical redshirt last season. As a freshman, she played in all 16 games and started in five, in which she scored 12 goals and assisted six for 18 total points. VanDeusen collected 22 ground balls, had 10 draw controls and a hat trick against Holy Cross and Towson.

In her sophomore year, she saw time in 16 games, scored 11 goals and had four assists for 15 points. Against Quinnipiac she had a two goal effort and an assist. VanDeusen has at least one point in the first seven games for UConn. She also collected 25 ground balls and caused 13 turnovers. She had 11 draw controls and averaged 44 minutes per game in the 2003 season. In that season, she was named the Big East Academic All-Star.

In her junior year, VanDeusen saw time in 16 games with 15 starts. She controlled 12 draws and had 25 ground balls and was named UConn Athletic Director's Honor Roll. VanDeusen had outstanding performances in games against UMass, Towson, Harvard and Northwestern in the 2004 season.

This season, she has played in all 15 games so far and has eight assists and 33 points. Her average for shots per game is 4.50 and her average goals per game is 1.67.

Also on Friday, Fong will be honored for her time at UConn.
As a freshman, Fong played in seven games and collected six ground balls and caused two turnovers.

In her sophomore year, Fong played in nine games, collecting five ground balls, causing three turnovers and winning five draws. Fong was named to the Dean's list in 2004.

Her junior year Fong saw action in 13 games, starting against Georgetown and Yale. In the 2005 season she picked up 10 ground balls and caused six turnovers.

This season Fong has played in all 15 games causing 10 turnovers collecting 24 ground balls.

The last game of the season will be played against No. 19 Stanford who is 8-5-0 and 4-1-0 in conference play this season.

Last season, UConn defeated the Cardinals 8-7 in UConn's first game of the season. UConn will look to the leadership of their seniors as they face-off against Stanford in their last match-up in the regular season.