UConn junior forward Monica Fleming (left) passes the ball past sophomore forward Casey Umstead during a UConn field hockey game at the Sherman Family Sports Complex in Storrs, Connecticut. (Bailey Wright/The Daily Campus)
No. 2 UConn field hockey is traveling to Philadelphia to face Big East-rival Temple at 2 p.m. Friday at Geasey Field. The Huskies will rest on Saturday before returning to the field to play Drexel before leaving Philadelphia.
“Conference road games are always a challenge,” head coach Nancy Stevens said. “As the road team, we’ll have to start fast and control the tempo of the game.”
UConn is 1-0 in the conference this season, and this will be Temple’s first Big East game.
The season is more than halfway through, with 11 games completed and 8 games remaining. UConn remains undefeated since last season, with its last loss 25 games ago. Temple is 3-8 this season and is currently on a four-game losing streak. Drexel is 4-6 on a three-game win streak and remains undefeated in its conference, the Colonial Athletic Association.
UConn has the edge over Temple in the all time series record (7-2-1) between the two teams, dating back to the team’s first meet up in 1986. The teams met twice last year, once in the regular season and again at the Big East championship game. The Huskies won the regular season game 4-3 and later defeated Temple 4-1 in the championship game.
“Our game at Temple last year was a thriller,” Stevens said. “Both Temple and Drexel are sound defensively, so we will need to work hard to create scoring opportunities.”
UConn first played Drexel in 2009, with the most recent game in 2011. The Huskies have the advantage over the Dragons with a 3-1 lead in the all-time series.
The Huskies are currently ranked No. 2 in the NCAA, right behind Syracuse. Both teams are the only remaining schools left undefeated in the nation. UConn leads the nation in goals per game (6.55), points per game (18.09), scoring average (6.55), scoring spread (6.09), save percentage (0.833), shutouts per game (0.64) and has the least goals against average for the season with (0.45).
Individually, sophomore Charlotte Veitner leads the team in goals scored (23), and has been named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week five times.
The Owls goalkeeper Haley Mitchell made the Big East Honor Roll last week after making 12 saves against No. 12-ranked Liberty.
Fans can follow both games using the GameTracker website, located on the field hockey website, or by following @UConnFHockey on Twitter for live tweets.
Molly Burkhardt is a staff writer for The Daily Campus, covering UConn field hockey. She can be reached atmary.burkhardt@uconn.edu.
