Abbey Van Deusen fights to pass against the Hoyas Saturday.

Lacrosse Without Big East Win

By: Tim Ehrens

Posted: 4/24/06

The women's lacrosse team (5-10, 0-5 Big East) split its two games over the cold and rainy weekend in Storrs, losing to No. 3 Georgetown, 12-8, on Saturday and defeating Colgate, 15-13, on Sunday.

The Huskies lost their fifth straight Big East contest on Saturday to the Hoyas (11-2, 4-0 Big East) in a game in which UConn hung on until the last minutes.

The first half was marked by excellent defensive play on both sides, as Georgetown scored only four goals on 11 shots. UConn goalie Kristen Haldeman tallied six of her 15 saves in the first half and looked solid in goal for the Huskies. UConn kept pace with the visiting Hoyas and gave them a tough first half, ending with a 4-3 score at halftime.

"Georgetown knows how to set the ball up and they can finish really nicely," said coach Bonnie Rosen. "It was a matter of us giving them an inch and them taking it."

The Hoyas started off the second half with six unanswered goals that lengthened their lead to seven goals with 12 minutes left in the game. Lucy Poole and Coco Stanwick each scored two goals in the run. UConn fired back with three goals of their own to bring the score to 10-6. Laura Trzasko was UConn's leading scorer, tallying three goals. Janet Williams also put up two goals and added an assist in the game.

"[Haldeman] made some great saves for us [in the second half] but, in the end it came down to draw controls and Georgetown did a fantastic job," Rosen said. "We just had a period where we weren't very smart in terms of getting the ball down the field and some of our turnovers really hurt us."

The Hoyas crushed the Huskies in draw controls, tallying 17 compared to UConn's five. The teams were even when it came to turnovers - Georgetown committed 13 and the Huskies committed 14.

The teams traded goals for the last 10 minutes of the game and, in the end Georgetown held on to their four goal lead and handed the Huskies their fifth conference loss, ensuring a winless conference season for the Huskies.

The Huskies were back in action the next day, playing in a driving rainstorm against Colgate (9-7, 5-0 Patriot League).

The intensity of the game was at full tilt from the beginning, as the Raiders struck first when Kelly Winning scored the first of her team-high four goals on the day 1:13 into the game. The Huskies jumped out to a 2-1 lead before the Raiders battled back and made the score 5-3 with 18:24 left in the half. The two teams fought to an 8-7 Huskies lead at the half, prefacing a second half that would be equally as exciting as the first.

UConn went on two separate runs of two goals apiece at the start of the second half, sparked by Shannon Burke and Kristin Link who finished with four and three goals, respectively. The Huskies posted their biggest lead of the game when Abbey VanDeusen scored with 17:36 left in the game to put the Huskies ahead, 12-8.

Colgate then proceeded to rattle off a 5-1 scoring run that ultimately tied the game at 13-13 with only 3:36 left in the contest. Link quickly shut the door on the Raiders when she scored the game winner on an assist from Burke just 19 seconds after the Raiders tied the game. Levin added some insurance in the closing minute with an unassisted goal to put the score at 15-13.

"I loved the spirit this team showed today," Rosen said. "We maybe weren't as disciplined initially in some things but it was clear that today was about willing a win."

The Huskies dominated in shots and ground balls and committed fewer turnovers than the Raiders.

"Even though we were in a tight game the whole time I felt like we had control over it," Rosen said. "It was just a great match-up and we ended up doing more right than wrong in the end."

Rosen said that she would like to see the same intensity and spirit from her team coming into their last game of the season on Friday.

"I'd love to see us come out with the attitude and spirit that we played with today [in our last game," Rosen said. "I'd love to see each player bring their best and that would be a wonderful way to end the season."

The Huskies will play their final game of the season and say goodbye to their five seniors Friday when they host Stanford at 7 p.m. at Morrone Stadium.