This Saturday, the UConn women’s lacrosse team is staying on its home turf, taking on the No. 15 Yale Bulldogs. The Huskies have been decent this year, but will have to work to overcome their biggest weakness: a ranked opponent. They’re a perfect 3-0 when they’ve played teams outside the top 25, but 0-2 in the more challenging, ranked matches.
Two of the three victories came by a large margin as they hosted St. Joseph’s and New Hampshire, beating them by seven and nine goals, respectively. They struggled in their opener against Fairfield, a team that they should have beaten by a better margin. The Huskies were up by four in the closing minutes, but couldn’t hold onto the lead, eking out a win in overtime. In both of their losses, they kept things close to start with UMass and James Madison, even leading the Minutewomen at the half, but ultimately fell apart, losing each one by a margin of four.
The Bulldogs will be as stiff a challenge, proving themselves to be the real deal through their first five contests. They opened with a pair against Vermont and Quinnipiac, games that they won by 11 and nine goals, respectively. They then traveled to No. 5 Stony Brook, a game where they weren’t embarrassed in, but it wasn’t particularly impressive either. They fell behind 8-2 early and couldn’t climb back, although keeping an even 5-5 score the rest of the way. Yale’s most impressive game of the year came against the No. 15 Princeton Tigers. They jumped out to an early 6-1 lead and never relinquished it, ultimately pulling out a 15-10 victory. It was a wire-to-wire effort that’s been the staple of the Bulldogs’ early resume.
Yale is led by a two-headed snake of Jenna Collignon and Olivia Penoyer, a pair of athletes that compliment each other perfectly. Collignon has 16 goals and four assists on the season, an impressive sophomore effort so far. Her best outing was in the Princeton game, where she balled out, netting six and assisting on one. She’s scored at least four in three of their five games, a testament to how critical Collignon is to the Bulldogs’ offense.
The other head of the snake is Penoyer, who has done everything a coach could want in the passing department. She has 12 assists on the campaign, nearly 50% of the team’s total. The senior also had a great performance against the Tigers, notching a goal and a trio of helpers. The duo of Collignon and Penoyer will be crucial for the Bulldogs to grab a road win, as they’re the catalyst to their success.
For UConn, the player to watch will be Kate Shaffer. After breaking out in moments during the 2022 season, the West Hartford native has been the star of this Husky squad. She has double the points of anyone else on the team with a team-high 18 goals and is second with six assists. Of her 24 season points, 21 have come in the team’s wins and just three in the two defeats, a demonstration of her importance.
Opening draw will take place at noon and the game can be viewed on FloSports.
