For the second time in three weeks, the University of Connecticut women’s lacrosse team was set to hold its home openers to the public and welcome spring. Instead, both times the Huskies were forced inside the Shenkman Training Center due to wintry, inclement weather. Nevertheless, the Huskies got the job done, demolishing an overmatched Manhattan College Jaspers squad that looked lifeless from the start.
The contest began as many do for the Huskies: with a Sydney Watson goal. Watson, a senior and preseason All-American ranks No. 33 in the country in goals per game with 3.4, making the most of her final go around so far. To the surprise of many, Manhattan’s Jillian Reiner answered with a goal of her own less than a minute later, but that began a 40-plus minute scoring drought that saw the Huskies completely take over.
The run began with another Watson goal, which was via a nice assist from Kate Shaffer, who picked up a goal of her own five minutes later. Susan Lafountaine added her eighth of the season to close out the quarter up 4-1.
Kyra Place joined the party with a score, despite being one player short. Lia Laprise added another goal in her under the radar season, with 15 goals and eight assists. Watson completed the hattrick, Grace Coon got one and Shaffer netted her second. Lauren Barry and Sophie Sorenson each scored one to close out the half on a 10-0 run and an 11-1 lead.
Early in the third, Madelyn George grabbed her third score of the year and Barry netted her second of the afternoon. Julianna Iovine finally stopped the bleeding for the Jaspers, ending the 12-0 run, but the damage was already done as the third quarter came to an end.
Laprise and Coon each added another goal to start out the fourth, before the Huskies emptied their bench. During this period, the Huskies were outscored 4-1, but still were able to pull out a double-digit win, 16-6.
WATSON SHINES AGAIN
Although this is as easy a game as any to put up a hattrick, Watson still looked good doing it. She scored all three of her goals in the team’s first seven, but at the end of the day, Manhattan wasn’t putting up much resistance.
LIA-DERSHIP
Laprise is quietly putting up one of the more productive seasons of any player in the country. The attacker scored two goals and dished out a pair of assists Wednesday and is second on the team in goals and first in assists. As the competition gets tougher, it will be interesting to see how Laprise will respond.
The Huskies will stay home to play Cornell this Sunday in a matchup that should be very even.
