On a cold, wet, nasty afternoon in Storrs, the UConn women’s lacrosse team celebrated the careers of their seven seniors before their matchup with the No. 18 team in the country. (Eric Wang/The Daily Campus)
On a cold, wet, nasty afternoon in Storrs, the UConn women’s lacrosse team celebrated the careers of their seven seniors before their matchup with the No. 18 team in the country.
The Huskies (2-14, 0-4 The American) were not able to send the seniors out with a win, though, as they fell to Florida (10-6, 4-0 The American) by a score of 16-5.
UConn actually scored first in the game on a Sydney Watson goal a little over a minute into the game. Florida answered 26 seconds later, and the Huskies never led again. The Gators scored three more goals before UConn scored again.
The pattern of the game on Saturday was exactly that: One goal for UConn and multiple for Florida. The game was still relatively close at halftime, due mostly to the horrible game conditions that caused both teams to turn the ball over 20 times each. Florida went into the half with a 10-4 lead.
UConn scored first in the second half as well, but they would not find the back of the net again. Florida added six more goals to run away with the victory.
Both Watson and Stephanie Palmucci scored two goals for the Huskies. Lexi Kenneally scored the other UConn goal.
Five goals places this match at the fewest UConn has scored in a game this season. It broke an eight-game streak with at least nine goals for the Huskies. The combination of the terrible weather and the Gators’ tough defense made the offensive chances for UConn very scarce. The Huskies managed to only put 11 balls on net, making for an easy day for Florida goaltender Haley Hicklen.
Grace Beshlian didn’t have that luxury in net for the Huskies. While the UConn defense managed to force eight turnovers, it still let up 27 shots on goal, of which Beshlian saved only 11.
Sophomore standout Shannon Kavanagh was the player of the game for the Gators. She scored five goals and assisted on three others to give her over 50 goals this season.
This was the final time that the Huskies will play at the Sherman Family Complex this season, but they do have one final road game. They will close out the 2019 season when they face East Carolina next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Danny Barletta is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at daniel.barletta@uconn.edu.