2008 Woodie Awards
Rough Season Continues
Huskies Lose 11th Game Sunday
Dennis Rizzo
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Sports
UConn's defense showed improvement on Sunday, but the offense was not able to turn turnovers into goals as the Huskies fell by a final score of 10-6 to Big East rival Rutgers.
UConn (1-11, 0-4 Big East) got off to a fast start, as Whitney Michele and Katy Ryan each scored in the first seven minutes to give the Huskies an early two goal lead. UConn's defense also kept the Huskies close in the first half, forcing nine turnovers and keeping the Scarlet Knights 0-for-3 on free position shots.
"We were in this game," said head coach Megan Cersosimo. "We forced turnovers. Games are won and lost in the midfield."
Both teams proceeded to exchange goals and turnovers throughout the first half, but the Huskies went into the break trailing 5-4. Ryan notched two of UConn's goals in the period, giving her 22 total on the season. Rutgers' Kristen Anderson also scored twice in the half, her second coming with 19 seconds left before the intermission.
Despite the team trailing at the end of the half 5-4, Cersosimo was pleased with the defense's effort.
"They played well today," Cersosimo said. "They played together and aggressive. That was something that had been lacking in earlier games."
UConn came out firing in the second half and ended up outshooting Rutgers 9-8 in the period. The Scarlet Knights (6-6, 2-1) also had 11 turnovers in the second half, two more than the Huskies. UConn was only able to covert these into two goals, however, partially due to the solid play of Rutgers' goaltender Sandra Abel who had six saves in the period.
"We shut ourselves down in the second half," Cersosimo said. "That's not taking anything away from Rutgers, but we just got away from the game plan."
Even though the Huskies could not convert the turnovers into goals, coach Cersosimo said her team did well to get shots on goal.
"As long as they get shots off it was not a completely lost possession," Cersosimo said. "If they get the possession first and get shots off, goals will come."
While Rutgers took fewer shots than UConn in the period, the Scarlet Knights made sure they were good ones, turning eight shots into five goals. Jennifer Schmitt and Brooke Cantwell, the Scarlet Knights season leader in points, each scored twice in the period. Cantwell has 23 goals on the season, which also leads the Scarlet Knights. Anderson also completed her hat trick with another score.
The Huskies finished 1-3 during their four-game homestand. UConn now travels to Boston College and Louisville for their final away games of the season.
"Home games are just the same as away games," Cersosimo said.
Even though this is the last road trip of the season, the team plans to approach them the same.
The team returns on April 18 when they will take on the University of California-Berkeley.
Contact Dennis Rizzo at
Dennis.Rizzo@UConn.edu.
UConn (1-11, 0-4 Big East) got off to a fast start, as Whitney Michele and Katy Ryan each scored in the first seven minutes to give the Huskies an early two goal lead. UConn's defense also kept the Huskies close in the first half, forcing nine turnovers and keeping the Scarlet Knights 0-for-3 on free position shots.
"We were in this game," said head coach Megan Cersosimo. "We forced turnovers. Games are won and lost in the midfield."
Both teams proceeded to exchange goals and turnovers throughout the first half, but the Huskies went into the break trailing 5-4. Ryan notched two of UConn's goals in the period, giving her 22 total on the season. Rutgers' Kristen Anderson also scored twice in the half, her second coming with 19 seconds left before the intermission.
Despite the team trailing at the end of the half 5-4, Cersosimo was pleased with the defense's effort.
"They played well today," Cersosimo said. "They played together and aggressive. That was something that had been lacking in earlier games."
UConn came out firing in the second half and ended up outshooting Rutgers 9-8 in the period. The Scarlet Knights (6-6, 2-1) also had 11 turnovers in the second half, two more than the Huskies. UConn was only able to covert these into two goals, however, partially due to the solid play of Rutgers' goaltender Sandra Abel who had six saves in the period.
"We shut ourselves down in the second half," Cersosimo said. "That's not taking anything away from Rutgers, but we just got away from the game plan."
Even though the Huskies could not convert the turnovers into goals, coach Cersosimo said her team did well to get shots on goal.
"As long as they get shots off it was not a completely lost possession," Cersosimo said. "If they get the possession first and get shots off, goals will come."
While Rutgers took fewer shots than UConn in the period, the Scarlet Knights made sure they were good ones, turning eight shots into five goals. Jennifer Schmitt and Brooke Cantwell, the Scarlet Knights season leader in points, each scored twice in the period. Cantwell has 23 goals on the season, which also leads the Scarlet Knights. Anderson also completed her hat trick with another score.
The Huskies finished 1-3 during their four-game homestand. UConn now travels to Boston College and Louisville for their final away games of the season.
"Home games are just the same as away games," Cersosimo said.
Even though this is the last road trip of the season, the team plans to approach them the same.
The team returns on April 18 when they will take on the University of California-Berkeley.
Contact Dennis Rizzo at
Dennis.Rizzo@UConn.edu.
Be the first to comment on this story