The women’s lacrosse team defeats UNH 13-9 on Sunday afternoon at the Sherman Family Sports Complex. UConn held the lead for the entire game. (Amar Batra/The Daily Campus)
UConn women’s lacrosse has started the season 2-3 through five games. Although the record might not show it, the Huskies are looking good as they head into Spring Break. They have played hard competition in James Madison, Boston College and UMass, all of which made it to the NCAA tournament last year.
UConn goes into this road stretch just losing to UMass on March 5. The Huskies attempted to come back from a 7-2 deficit and forced overtime. They eventually lost in overtime 10-9.
UConn’s offense is led by junior attacker Grace Nolan, who has accumulated 12 goals and 11 assists. Nolan was named Big East Attacker of the Week after her three-goal and four-assist performance against Fairfield and adding another two goals against James Madison. The following week, Nolan was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for her five goals and three assists in the win over New Hampshire.
Senior attackers Jacqueline Jordan and Maggie Tripodi have added another 28 points combined this season. Sophomore Brooke Jensen has been a key factor in the midfield leading the team with 17 total draw controls.
Most notably, freshman goalie Grace Beshlian has stepped up big starting all five games with an average of 11.10 goals against per game puts her in the top 50 in the nation. Beshlian was named named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for her performance against UMass.
UConn will first face Stanford on Saturday, March 11, at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium in Stanford California.
Stanford comes into this matchup ranked just outside the top 20 with a record of 5-2. Their most recent win was a 17-13 shootout over William and Mary on March 8. The Cardinal have quality victories over Michigan and Ohio State and their only two losses come against ranked opponents, No. 15 Duke and old conference rival No. 19 Denver.
Their offense is lead by senior attacker Kelsey Murray who has 19 goals and 10 assists on the season. The Cardinal also have scoring coming from seniors Elizabeth Cusick and Anna Salemo, and juniors Maggie Nick, Dillon Schoen and Kelly Meyers.
The question mark for coming into the season for this Cardinal team was their defense after losing All-Americans Adrienne Anderson and Meg Lentz to graduation. Schoen has stepped up, leading the team with 12 caused turnovers. Freshman Kyra Pelton and Mikaela Watson have filled the gaps defensively and have started contributing right away. Junior goalie Allie DaCar adds a goals against average of 9.27 per game to this stellar defense.
The Huskies will then travel across the Bay to play the California Golden Bears on March 14 at Kabam Field in Berkeley, California.
Cal women’s lacrosse has been struggling in the past couple of years. This season they have a record of 1-5 with their only win coming against Butler, a first-year program. Cal has most recently lost to St. Joseph’s in an offensive shootout 18-17 and will next play William and Mary on March 11. The Golden Bear offense is led by seniors Jenna Fritts and Elizabeth Pellechi with a combined 37 points. Cal has been splitting time between freshman goalie Makayla Ward and sophomore Jenny Wilkens.
UConn looks to enjoy the California sunshine and come back to Storrs just in time for Big East play to start. The Huskies’ next home game is Saturday, March 18, at George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex against conference foe No. 3 Florida.
Sophia Ross is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can reached via email at sophia.ross@uconn.edu.
