The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Dan Gindraux A good defensive performance was lost Sunday as the offense struggled for women's lacrosse.

Despite a solid defensive performance, UConn was defeated by Rutgers by a score of 10-6 Sunday at the Sherman Family Sports Complex.??

While the Huskies' offense seemed stagnant for much of the game, UConn's defense played remarkably well. Tying a season low, the defense allowed only 10 goals and recovered 15 ground balls compared to Rutgers' 11.

The Huskies were dominant on clears as well. This season UConn (1-11, 0-4 Big East) has posted a mediocre 65 percent conversion rate on clears, Sunday however, the team had 17 successful clears off 20 attempts for an 85 percent conversion rate, a vast improvement.??

Sophomore goalie Jenna Moulton led the Huskies' defense and played one of her best games of the season, allowing 10 goals while tallying six saves. Moulton came into the game allowing an average of 17 goals a game, but played much better against the Scarlet Knights.??

"Jenna had a nice game, she made the saves that we needed her to make," said head coach Megan Cersosimo. "She also made some key interceptions and caused turnovers."

??Moulton made other athletic plays as well, taking the ball herself on clears, causing four turnovers and collecting four ground balls.

Another area the Huskies' defense improved in was fouling and creating free-position shots for their opposition. Coming into the game, UConn was allowing nearly seven free-position shots a game, and multiple goals as a result.??

In the 18-13 loss to Fairfield, UConn's defense gave up six free position shots, four of which Fairfield turned into goals. Against Rutgers (6-6, 2-1 Big East), UConn allowed only four free position shots, none of which were converted into goals.??

"The defense was playing a lot of body verse stick, they executed on defense and limited their fouls," Cersosimo said.

??The Huskies' defense caused a season-high 15 turnovers, providing opportunities for the offense to set up and attempt to score. UConn failed to capitalize on many of these turnovers though, as the offense tallied 18 of their own.??

"Games are won and lost in the midfield," Cersosimo said. "We were able to stay in the game in the first half because we caused turnovers, but our offensive turnovers cost us the game."

Part of UConn's defensive success can be attributed to the fact that the unit remains largely unchanged from last season.??

Moulton started 15 games as a freshman, while defenders Lauren Duffy and Leah Giffin saw playing time in 15 games last year as well. Giffin will graduate this year, but the rest of the defensive unit will remain together and continue to build on their strong chemistry.

??"Having a young defense helps, they've played together before, and they will have another year to play together," Cersosimo said. "We've had to replace solid defenders in the past with new players and it's very difficult, it's great to be able to return the same players."



Contact Russell Blair at

Russell.Blair@UConn.edu.

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