Grace Nolan (#10) leaps in the air to celebrate with her teammates after scoring a go-ahead goal in the final seconds of UConn’s 9-8 victory over Georgetown at the Sherman Family Sports Complex on Wednesday April 20, 2016. (Tyler Benton/The Daily Campus)
The UConn lacrosse team’s dramatic 9-8 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas was nothing new to this team.
After initially fighting off a 3-1 deficit early in the first half, the Huskies battled back to take a lead into halftime. UConn held this lead until the Hoyas went on a three-goal run over a span of seven minutes pull in front with just six minutes remaining in the game.
“I don’t think we played our best as a whole today,” UConn head coach Katie Woods said. “We did some good things, but no where near consistent enough as we needed to put Georgetown away. We gave them too many opportunities and they battled right back into the game.”
It looked as though Georgetown was going to steal a win in Storrs until an Alexandra Crofts’ goal tied the game with three minutes to go. That goal set the stage for sophomore Grace Nolan’s late-game heroics.
“I think we just had a really great opportunity to find a good look at the cage,” Woods said. “At that point in the game the attackers know the pressure is on, if they see a good look they should take it. Nolan found a hole, she attacked, and she wasn’t going to miss.”
Resiliency seems to be a key strength for the Huskies, now 11-2 overall with a 6-0 conference record. Just last week the Huskies fought off Temple’s comeback attempt and left Philadelphia with a 9-8 overtime win. Or, we could take a look at the Villanova game; UConn didn’t hold a lead until they rattled off six-straight goals in the second half to secure the win.
“I think the resiliency is a key, but the leadership of the upperclassmen helps a lot as well,” Woods said. “The experience they have in tight games carries with them and it’s let us keep working to find success in those tough spots and win games.”
The upperclassmen certainly stepped up today for the Huskies. Senior attack Kate Finkelston netted a hat trick, and senior goaltender Shannon Nee made ten saves on the day, including a few that were extremely timely and saved the game for UConn.
While today’s win was important for the Huskies, they’re going to need more than a tough mindset to upset the No. 2 Florida Gators on Sunday. But Woods knows she can still get more out of her team.
“I’m proud of the team for their fight today,” Woods said. “But we would love find the UConn team that is firing on all cylinders the whole time and put together a complete game. That’s what we’re going to need.”
Connor Donahue is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at connor.f.donahue@uconn.edu.