The UConn women’s lacrosse team gave it their all Saturday afternoon in an impressive win against Xavier. The Musketeers, who entered the game with a record of 1-11, were handed their 12th loss of the season after the Huskies netted 24 goals past them.
Graduate student Eliza Bowman got the scoring started for the Huskies just one minute into the game. She went on to score her second goal just a few minutes later and her fellow Husky junior Karsyn Burnash netted a goal of her own right after. Xavier was able to net two back-to-back goals from senior Julie Cassidy and junior Lola Mancuso.
Shortly after, Bowman earned herself a hat trick, scoring yet another goal to put the Huskies up 4-2 just six minutes into the start of the game. But Bowman did not stop there. The graduate’s attack went on to score her fourth of the game for UConn along with teammate Eve McGrogan.
Cassidy scored another goal for the Musketeers, but the first quarter remained dominated by the Huskies as junior Grace Winkler netted her first as a Husky with graduate student Jenna Giardina and redshirt junior Rayea Davis each netting two goals as well. Graduate student Dylan Halloran for Xavier scored a quick goal with just 30 seconds left in the quarter to make the score 11-4 at the end of the first.
After a more than impressive first quarter, the Huskies continued this momentum going into the second frame. Sophomore Caitlyn Hubiak earned her first goal of her UConn career to get the scoring started. Sophomore Megan Droney scored her first of the afternoon for the Musketeers, but attacker Emma Dacey for the Huskies got herself on the board with a goal shortly after. Giardina and Davis each netted another goal of their own to put UConn at 15 points heading into the break.
The rest of the game was full of milestones for the Huskies as Davis earned herself a hat trick to start off the third quarter. After scoring her first goal of her UConn career, Hubiak ran with that momentum scoring another three in just four minutes. Freshman Musketeer Cameron Yard responded with a goal of her own, but much like the earlier quarters, the third remained all Huskies and it was safe to say that UConn entered the final quarter feeling confident.
In the fourth and final quarter, redshirt sophomore Ava Plata and freshman Madison Sweeney each scored two goals of their own to secure the Huskies’ win with a final score of 24-8. With Sweeney’s final goal of the game, it broke the single-game record for goals in a game.
Husky fans were given quite the record-breaking game that included hat tricks, and first career goals for more than one player. Looking ahead, the Huskies will finish out their regular season at home where they will face off against Georgetown at noon. The seniors on the team will be honored prior to the start of the game.
UConn will enter the game 10-5 and Georgetown 8-6 on a two-game winning streak. This will be a must-watch matchup, as it is the last regular season game for both teams before the Big East Tournament.