After a successful weekend where the UConn field hockey team took victories against a Big East opponent in Villanova and fellow ranked team in Boston College, the Huskies have a comparatively relaxed getaway ahead of them, where they’ll head to our nation’s capital, Washington D.C., and take on Georgetown on Friday at 12 p.m.
Coming into this match, the Huskies have been tested thoroughly and have withstood the challenges thrown their way. Brandishing a 10-4 overall record and 4-1 Big East mark puts them at second in the conference behind only Liberty University, who has a perfect 5-0 conference record. The blemishes on UConn’s season are minor, as they’ve only had a few losses to ranked teams to this point, including a 1-0 heartbreaker to then-No. 8 Rutgers, a crushing 4-0 loss to the aforementioned No. 16 Liberty Lady Flames and two so-close-yet-so-far type defeats at the hands of No. 10 Princeton and No. 1 North Carolina. Despite that, their head count is still impressive. UConn has victories against No. 15 Harvard, previously No. 16 William and Mary, former No. 24 Delaware, No. 14 Old Dominion and No. 21 Boston College, putting them solidly within the top 15 with a chance of getting to the top 10 if they can end the season on a winning streak (which would include defeating current No. 2 Maryland). UConn’s had a great year, and their outlook at this point is to take home at least a Big East trophy when tourney season comes.
On the other hand, the Hoyas have not had nearly as good a season. They’re 3-12 overall with an 0-5 record against the Big East, and it really hasn’t been all that pretty. There have been some encouraging victories, like a 9-1 thrashing of Queens University of Charlotte and a 3-2 hard-fought win against Sacred Heart, but they’ve been embarrassed plenty. They’ve been shut out eight times in the season, meaning that in more than half their matches, they couldn’t score. The cherries on top of their misery sundae of a season have been two games where they were thoroughly dominated by their opponents: a 10-0 rout at the hands of Liberty and another somehow worse loss courtesy of Maryland, 11-0. Long story short, Georgetown is struggling mightily, and probably can’t wait for the season to end.
The head-to-head history is just about as lopsided as the records of the two squads coming into the match. Since 1992, UConn has not lost a match they’ve played against Georgetown. That means the United States has seen at least five different presidents since the beginning of the Huskies’ and Hoyas’ “rivalry” (if you could even call it that). These teams’ most recent matchup was last year on Oct. 22, when UConn only won with a final score of 2-0. Suffice to say, this matchup has mostly been that of a hammer and nail rather than two evenly-matched collegiate teams.
Given the history and the current state of both squads, it would be difficult to bet against the Huskies. Still, it will be important for them to win this game and make sure they stay in lockstep with Liberty for the 1-seed. They’ll need to make sure they don’t take this match for granted and play the quality hockey that they have all season.