On a rainy afternoon at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex, the UConn field hockey team was able to stave off a late push by Brown University to secure a 3-2 victory.
The Huskies, who sat 1-1 on the season, entered their home opener on Sunday coming off a 2-1 loss in penalty strokes to the University of New Hampshire last weekend. This was the second game of the season for the Bears, who lost their first to UMass on Saturday.
Brown came out hot by scoring a goal within the first minute of the match, after a UConn penalty gave Brown a penalty corner. Senior midfielder Lucy Adams took the penalty corner for Brown. UConn goalkeeper Natalie McKenna was able to stop the initial shot but allowed a rebound that Adams was able to clean up for the first goal of the game.
The lead was almost made 2-0, when Adams sent a deep shot from the 23-meter line into the UConn goal. Brown freshman Grace Almeida was in front of the goal but wasn’t able to deflect it, and the shot was ruled a no goal, since it came from outside the scoring circle.
UConn had multiple long possessions in the first quarter but did not convert any into goals until senior captain Julia Bressler took the ball herself from the 23-meter line and flipped it into the top right corner of the goal over the outreached hand of Brown goalie Ellie Parker with 2 minutes and 39 seconds to go. The goal was the forward’s second of the year.
UConn again found the back of the goal about halfway through the second quarter. Junior midfielder Olivia McKenna nearly went coast-to-coast before finding freshman Emma Laritt inside the scoring circle behind the Brown defense. Laritt, assisted by Olivia McKenna, tapped it in to give UConn the lead. That lead was extended when freshman Lene Bunjes deflected a shot from Bressler past Parker on a penalty corner play.
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the third quarter due to strong play from the two goalies. Both teams were aggressive in playing the ball on their offensive ends throughout the day, which forced multiple unsuccessful long passes for each side.
After the score sat at 3-1 for nearly 30 minutes of game time, Brown broke the goal drought after converting on another penalty corner attempt. Natalie McKenna deflected the initial shot from forward Lexi Pellegrino, but the resulting rebound was knocked in by junior Kate Siedem to pull Brown within one goal.
Brown would not go down without a fight, pulling the goalie to try and create an extra player opportunity. That advantage was exacerbated by a late penalty from UConn that would result in a yellow card and Brown having a two-player advantage. Brown was able to get an inside shot off, but Natalie McKenna made a close-range sliding save to seal a 3-2 victory. After the game, UConn head coach Paul Caddy discussed what it meant to have games at home.
“We have a tough schedule coming up,” Caddy said. “I think that we are going to need the fans at the games. It definitely makes a big difference.” This weekend, the Huskies had an accomplished group of supporters in the stands as they welcomed back members from all five of the program’s national championship-winning teams for their National Championship Alumni weekend.
“What you see is that the actual DNA of a Husky is the same. When you graduate and you come back here in the future and you see people around here, they’re pretty much the same as you are,” said Caddy. “[The players] realize that they are very similar people [to the national champions].”
The Huskies will next return to the field in a home match against Rutgers University on Friday, Sept. 12 at 3 p.m.