Not even a broken-down bus could stop the Huskies from completing their second weekend sweep of the year.
After transportation troubles that delayed the start of Friday’s game against Quinnipiac, UConn (unlike the bus) swiftly arrived at its destination of a 7-7 season record (3-1 Big East), its first time being a .500 team since Sept. 19. Connecticut took down the Bobcats (1-10, 0-4 Big East) 1-0, and then handled Boston University (2-11, 0-3 Patriot League) 8-0.
The first game was a lot closer than expected, as the Huskies took care of business in every department except scoring. UConn doubled and tripled Quinnipiac’s numbers in total shots and shots on goal, respectively. With Connecticut a nationally ranked team and Quinnipiac only winning a single contest this year, all signs pointed to this game being a blowout. Despite this, the final score was 1-0, as the Huskies couldn’t get much going.
The star of the show was freshman Madi Herb, who scored the first goal of her collegiate career just nine minutes into the game, thanks to an assist from Abby Gooderham. Thankfully, that was all UConn needed to walk away from this one victorious.
The Huskies’ defense locked it down yet again, earning their fifth shutout of the year. Keeper Cheyenne Sprecher dominated, picking up three saves in the win.
In their 23-year history, UConn is now 20-0 against the Bobcats, having shown continued success and dominance over Quinnipiac’s program. Of those 20 wins, 15 of them are shutouts. The narrow 1-0 victory is the closest contest they’ve had since the Huskies’ 2-1 victory back in 2014.
For as much as UConn couldn’t get things going in the first game, man did they make up for it in the second, beating Boston University 8-0 in alpha dog fashion.
From the jump, it looked like another 1-0 win for the Huskies. In the first quarter and much of the second, Connecticut couldn’t get much going offensively while shutting it down on the defensive end. It took 23 minutes the first score, with breakout freshman Sophia Ugo earning her fourth goal of the year.
For her and the rest of the Huskies? This was just the beginning.
Ugo notched her second of the game three minutes later, this time off of a penalty corner that slipped by each of the defenders and Terriers goalie Caroline Kelly. This momentum carried over into the second half, where it was nothing short of a feeding frenzy. Consistent striker McKenna Sergi scored her fifth goal of the year, while sophomore Morgan Kaufmann earned her first of her collegiate career along with three assists. Jessica Dembrowski got her fifth of the season, and Madi Herb started a running two-game scoring streak with her second of 2021.
In the fourth quarter, the Huskies kept pouring it on, with Ugo earning the first hat trick of her career, as well as the first for the team all season. Claire Jandewerth picked up her fourth goal of the year in the 48th minute, a score which would prove to be the last of the contest.
After all was said and done, Connecticut had scored 8 goals in its first real offensive explosion all year. This was much needed for the squad, since the most they had scored in a game this season was less than half of Sunday’s count.
The defense held up very well yet again in this one. Sprecher added another four saves to her running tally of 84 on the year. While the team allowed 10 shots, the Huskies applied more of a comfortable playstyle, since the offense was taking care of business all game long.
This loss was Boston University’s 10th straight on the season as the Terriers have had a rough stretch of games. UConn is now 36-8 against the team all time, expanding their current win streak to 15 games. In their storied history, this is the largest margin of victory for either team. Between them and Quinnipiac, the Huskies have been asserting their dominance once again over these sub-par teams.
This weekend marks the first this season without any Top 25 matchups for Connecticut, giving the team a little breather before the tough stretch of games leading up to the postseason. On Friday, they travel to Pennsylvania on Friday to take on Big East rival Villanova. The Huskies will continue their road trip on Sunday, where they will face a tough opponent, No. 8 Maryland.
