UConn women’s lacrosse celebrates their seniors at their final game. The game took place in Morrone Stadium on Apr. 20, 2024. Photo courtesy of @uconnwlax/Instagram
It’s no doubt the Huskies have experienced a roller coaster of a season and have performed on both ends of the spectrum; hot and cold, falling short then rising above, coming undone then soaring above.
This week, the Huskies were cold at first, but as luck would have it, their heat came in the nick of time for the Big East. On Wednesday, the Huskies were devastated with a 9-19 UMass loss, which promptly put an end to their longest winning streak of the season.
The golden trio, Rayea Davis, Kate Shaffer and Susan Lafountain put up eight of the nine goals and ran the offensive line as best they could, but it was no match for the Minutemen’s attacks. Ultimately, UMass found the Huskies’ net like clockwork and put an end to UConn’s recent success.
While the Minutemen momentarily curbed the Huskies’ momentum, UConn got back in the saddle for Butler.
Although the Huskies have struggled a bit this season, it comes nowhere near the lows the Bulldogs have faced. A matchup with Butler (2-13) was just what the Huskies needed to remedy their mid-week loss.
Since the teams occupy opposite ends of the conference, the Huskies near the top and the Bulldogs in the basement, a UConn victory was highly plausible.
The successful momentum was immediate for the Huskies as they went one, two, three in the first five minutes. Shaffer, Abby Charron and Lauren Barry were the first to get on the board and they certainly weren’t the last.
Instantly, UConn was head and shoulders above the Bulldogs and fended off their early attacks. The first sign of Butler’s movement came halfway through the first as they netted two shots. In usual fashion, UConn couldn’t leave their opponent’s advances unanswered and quickly matched the Bulldogs with three more of their own.
Jenna Giardina put up their sixth goal of the first with just .02 left in the quarter, clearly a testament to the Huskies’ aptitude of playing hard and fast until the very last whistle.
The second quarter was just as successful as UConn netted six more. In swift fashion, UConn found its way back to the Butler goaltender and acclimated themselves. While the second was a bit more of a give-and-take between the two, UConn’s dominance put Butler’s pitfalls in the limelight as they were unable to pierce the Huskies’ defense. Although the Bulldogs put up four in the quarter, they still couldn’t get their feet off the ground for momentum.
By the third, Butler was able to go back and forth with the Huskies. For the better half of the third, the dogs played in a call-and-response fashion. As soon as UConn put up a goal, Butler would respond. While the groups bounced back and forth, UConn’s advances from the first two quarters put them too far ahead for the Bulldogs to catch up.
The fourth was where Butler came undone.
UConn was already ahead 16-11 and put the finishing touches on the match as they netted five more. Butler was completely silent as the Huskies were a well-oiled machine and ran circles around the Bulldogs for one final quarter.
Several Huskies were able to get a piece of the action as Davis, Giardina, Madelyn George and Shea van den Broek all added more points to their resumes.
UConn Goaltender Landyn White had a quiet game and only made six saves throughout the game.
Across the board, 10 UConn athletes were able to score in the contest, and except for sophomore Davis, all the scorers were either seniors or graduate students. Next year, UConn will have massive shoes to fill on the frontlines as the newcomers will need to rise to the occasion in the absence of the serious group of attackers.
Despite Butler’s last-ditch efforts, they paled in comparison to the Huskies’ forces as UConn triumphed 21-11. Luckily, the victory added another conference win to the Huskies’ season record.
UConn will buckle down for another week of work as they face their final conference opponent, Georgetown, next Saturday. This will be the final contest before the Big East Championship in early May.