The UConn women’s lacrosse team fell to James Madison on Saturday by a score of 11-8.
The ranked matchup was originally slated to begin at noon, but was moved to 11 a.m. However, the early start did not seem to affect the Huskies. Less than two minutes into the game, Emma Dacey netted her first goal of the season to give the Huskies a quick 1-0 lead. For the next 10 minutes, each team was stout defensively. UConn’s Tori Cini stopped three shots and kept James Madison off the scoreboard. With 5:01 left in the first quarter, sophomore Eve McGrogan was fouled and rewarded with a free position shot. McGrogan took advantage of the James Madison miscue and buried her fifth goal of the season, putting the Huskies up 2-0. That score would hold for the remainder of the first quarter.
However, the Huskies shutout bid did not last long into the second quarter. James Madison scored two goals in less than a minute to tie the score. UConn took the lead right back, as Rayea Davis found the back of the net for her team-leading 10th goal of the season. The Huskies struggled to get anything going after that and turned the ball over seven times in the second quarter. James Madison was able to take advantage of UConn’s struggles and scored three goals to close out the first half to take a 5-3 lead.
UConn responded quickly coming out of the locker room. Eliza Bowman took advantage of a James Madison yellow card that carried over from the end of the first half and got the Huskies back within one. James Madison answered right back with three goals in less than three minutes, including Maddie Epke’s second and third goals of the game. After Bowman’s goal 12 seconds into the third quarter, UConn did not score again in the quarter despite firing six more shots on goal. After James Madison’s three quick goals, they were also unable to extend their lead, and the score stayed at 8-4.
The Huskies battled back. Davis scored her second goal of the game on an assist from Ava Plata. Seconds later, Anna Magennis forced a turnover and found Plata for a goal of her own. James Madison ended the UConn threat there, as they added two goals to stretch their lead back to four. Bowman scored her second goal of the afternoon, which was immediately followed by another James Madison goal. Plata scored her second of the game with 3:48 left in the fourth, but UConn was unable to cut the deficit again.
Davis, Bowman and Plata scored two goals apiece. Plata and Jenna Giardina each had two assists. Abby Beran led the Huskies with four draw controls and three caused turnovers. The Huskies managed to register 20 shots on goal and had 11 draw controls to James Madison’s eight. UConn committed one more turnover than their opponent and both sides accounted for 13 groundballs and 12 fouls each. The biggest discrepancy came from free position shots. James Madison converted on four of six free position shots, while the Huskies were able to score on only one out of five attempts.
Next up, the Huskies will now head home and look to get back in the win column when they face Manhattan at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22.