The UConn women’s lacrosse team is heading down to Sparks, Md., to face No. 18 James Madison on Saturday, Feb. 15.
The Huskies are coming off a dominant 18-5 win over Fairfield on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Storrs, started the season strong with two straight home wins.
The match was one of many achievements for the Huskies. Redshirt junior attacker Rayea Davis reached a career high six goals in her second playing season with the Huskies. She now leads the team with nine goals in the last two games. In addition, sophomore defender Abby Beran and freshman attacker Megan O’Brien scored their first goals with the Huskies.
The Huskies will also bring another essential player to this match in graduate student Jenna Giardina, who leads the team with five assists.
James Madison on the other hand, has not found the same success. The Dukes currently stand with a 1-1 record. Starting their season off with 14-2 loss to North Carolina last Friday. However, the team redeemed themselves earlier this week after beating Virginia Tech 15-11. This will be the program’s first home game of the season stand they currently hand with a 1-1 away record.
The Dukes will bring junior attacker Maddie Epke, who leads the team in scoring with seven goals in the last two games. Epke also leads the team in assists with two and points with 12. Another crucial player for James Madsion will be senior attacker Savannah Derey who is second in goals scored, with six goals and is tied with Epke with 15 shots on goal.
This is the 12th time the two programs come face to face. Their last match was in February of last year when the Huskies missed out on the win, but just by one point. UConn currently faces an eight-game losing streak against the Duke Dogs, taking their last victory in 2016 at home. This will be the first time the match-up is played in a non-neutral venue in nine years.
Connecticut will hope to continue their strong performance and maintain their undefeated status. The Huskies will also hope to beat James Madison for the first time in nine years. The Dukes, on the other hand, will look to continue their positive momentum and put their stretch of difficulty behind, continuing their winning streak in front of a home crowd.