The Women’s Lacrosse team went head to head against the Georgetown Hoyas. The Huskies fell short, losing 14-6. (John Sammis/The Daily Campus)
The UConn women’s lacrosse team (3-6, 0-2 Big East) will face Denver (7-2, 1-1 Big East) in a Big East matchup on Sunday in Denver.
Denver is ranked No. 14 in both the IWCLA Coaches and Cascade media polls and No. 19 in the U.S. Lacrosse Magazine Rankings. The pioneers kicked off the season with their first 3-0 start in school history.
The players to watch for Denver are senior defenders Sybil Pallace and Layne Voorhees. Both players have received Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors, with Voorhees claiming the title twice.
Another player to watch is Kendra Lanuza, who has 34 points and leads the team in goals and assists. The Pioneers have plenty of young talent on the team as their top five scorers are all underclassmen.
The coach for the Pioneers is Liza Kelly, who is currently in her 11th season at Denver. Last season she led her team to a 9-9 record and a trip to the MPSF Semifinals. In addition to coaching, Kelly also serves on the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Committee.
The last time these two teams played each other was in 2008 when UConn lost 21-13 at Denver. In a similarity to the upcoming game on Sunday, Denver was also ranked No. 14 when they played back in ‘08.
Even though these two teams have not seen each other in almost 10 years, UConn head coach Katie Woods said the approach to preparing to play Denver is no different than when facing to play any other team.
“We will have to watch more game film on them to familiarize ourselves with them, however the main goal is still the same—figure out their tendencies and their main looks, and try to find ways to stop them offensively and beat them defensively,” Woods said.
UConn is coming off a two-game losing streak against Florida and Georgetown.
“Right now our focus has been on us,” Woods said. “We need to continue working through some things so that we’re improving as individuals and ultimately as a team within our offensive and defensive units. They are a good team and will come at us hard on Sunday, but the most important thing right now is for us to improve in our game.”
UConn’s game against Denver begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Mariana Dominguez is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at mariana.dominguez@uconn.edu.