The UConn field hockey team finds itself in the midst of a four-game winning streak. That information alone would tell you that they’re doing well, but it doesn’t even tell the full story; they’ve mounted these wins entirely against ranked opponents. After coming into the previous weekend with two straight victories against then-No. 7 Harvard and then-No. 24 Delaware, they added two more wins to their belt in the forms of a 2-1 victory versus No. 14 Old Dominion on Friday and a 3-1 win versus No. 16 William & Mary on Sunday.
In their first Big East triumph of the season, the Huskies played a good defensive game in order to take down the Monarchs in Norfolk, Virginia last Friday. The match started scoreless through three quarters with UConn goalie Cheyenne Sprecher flashing the leather and grabbing a majority of her seven total saves. Then, the Huskies got on the board thanks to Julia Bressler off an assist from Juana Garcia in the 50th minute, finally taking the lead for the first time in the match. The sailing seemed smooth, but in the 57th minute, the Monarch’s Delphine Le Jeune netted an equalizer that sent the game into overtime. Given how much of a slog the rest of the match had been, it came as no surprise that the first overtime proved no different. Neither team could manage to break the tie and were exhausting each other as the clock continued to tick. But then, as they neared the end of the second overtime, the Huskies finally got their tiebreaker off the stick of Aiyi Young, assisted by Sol Simone. And just like that, they trudged over the finish line and took their victory, 2-1.
UConn’s next match would not be nearly as climactic, as they headed north to take on the William & Mary Tribe in Williamsburg, Virginia. Only 39 seconds into regulation, Claire Jandewerth (with an assist from Simone) scored the Huskies’ first goal, showing that even though they played a tough match less than 48 hours prior, they still had the stamina to bring out their most aggressive offense. The intensity didn’t stop there: just as the first quarter was about to end, McKenna Sergi got one in to make it 2-0, Connecticut. Everything just snowballed from there, as UConn continued to pressure the Tribe’s goal, peppering their goalie with 20 shots to William & Mary’s seven, while playing proud, tough defense in the back. Sergi would tack on another goal (with yet another assist from Simone) in the third quarter, and even though William & Mary got one back from Molly Schuma, assisted by Jayden Moon, it wasn’t nearly enough, as the score held for the last quarter of the game.
And thus ends UConn’s long streak of games away from home. The toughest part of their schedule may be behind them at this point, and they came out the other side a battle-hardened force to be reckoned with. They may now get the chance to slow down a little, rest and make some small adjustments as they head into their first home match in nearly a month against Liberty University on Friday.
