The UConn field hockey team is coming off the first week of the season red hot. After defeating New Hampshire 6-2 and upsetting No. 13 Saint Joseph 5-4 in overtime, the Huskies start their 2024 campaign 2-0.
The Huskies find themselves with another challenging weekend ahead of them, starting Friday when they’ll be hosting Cornell. Though Connecticut has already played two games, Cornell will be playing their first match of the season against the Huskies.
Cornell will also be challenged throughout the course of the season. On Sunday, they will play UAlbany, ranked No. 20 in the Division One National Coaches Poll. Then, they will face off against No. 7 Louisville and No. 1 Northwestern the following week. The expectations are high for Cornell this season, as they finished last year with a 12-5 record.
On Sunday, the Huskies will face off against No. 9 Rutgers at the Bauer Track and Field Complex in Piscataway, N.J. The Scarlet Knights are coming off an incredible 16-4 season where they traveled to Storrs and won 2-1 in a penalty shootout. Rutgers then lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament to Maryland before falling to Harvard in the first round of the national tournament. Rutgers opened their season last weekend against Vermont, shutting the Catamounts out 5-0.
After a difficult season last year, full of close losses and only tallying five wins, the Huskies have the opportunity to put themselves back into the national contenders conversation. With two wins this weekend, Connecticut would have two ranked wins, Rutgers and Saint Joseph’s, on their resume and most likely will find themselves in the top 20 nationally.
A season ago, the Huskies fell to both Cornell and Rutgers by a score of 2-1. They come into this weekend looking to avenge their losses and improve to 4-0 on the season.