This past Saturday, the No. 24 UConn women’s lacrosse team entered their game against Marquette with a lot on the line. The pair of squads are in a tight battle for second place in the Big East behind No. 3 Denver, with this contest having major implications for that race. The Huskies lost to the Pioneers last weekend and the 12-1 Golden Eagles will get their shot at victory in just under two weeks. In this ever decisive battle, Marquette got ahead early and didn’t let it slip, winning 12-9 on their home turf.
In a game that wasn’t super encouraging, the star of the show was Rayea Davis. Usually more of a scorer, the redshirt freshman put on a passing clinic with five assists on the afternoon. She added a goal and was responsible for 66.7% of the Huskies’ goals. On a team where most of the significant offensive contributors are upperclassmen, Davis’ production is a great sign for the team moving forward. She packs a versatile and potent offensive punch as the team’s third best assister and fifth highest scorer.
Another strong performer was Lia LaPrise, who put forth a strong effort even in the loss. She scored the team’s only hat trick and added a helper. If everyone on the field played as well as she did, the Huskies likely would have come out on top, but they did not. LaPrise’s first two goals were also the team’s first–and the second one didn’t come until the second quarter. It’s tough to win games when that’s the case, especially when the defense was getting lit up the way it did.
LaPrise got the scoring started with a goal in the first two minutes of action, but the Huskies went cold soon after. Over the next 15 minutes of play, the Golden Eagles went absolutely ballistic on Connecticut. Tess Osburn and Shea Garcia each netted three goals in that span, putting UConn in an 8-1 hole early in the second period.
LaPrise found the back of the net again to stop the bleeding, but Lydia Foust protected the advantage with her 43rd score of the season. Grace Coon and Meg Bireley traded goals to wrap up the half and the Huskies found themselves still with an incredible hill to climb.
Foust raised that hill with an early second half score, although Morgan Carter was able to answer with one of her own. With 10 minutes left in the third, Garcia scored what ended up being the Golden Eagles’ final goal of the game. Lauren Barry put a pair past the goalkeeper to crunch the deficit to six going into the final period. Even though the Huskies managed three goals in the final period of the match and didn’t give any up, they still lost by three.
Their chance to break their two game losing streak will come back in Storrs, CT against Georgetown team that should be easier to beat. Time is ticking on their season though, as they have just three games left.
