The UConn field hockey team (3-5) will look to get back on track this weekend with a pair of games against two high scoring opponents. The Huskies will play a home game on Friday, Oct. 3, against Big East opponent Providence (6-3) and then hit the road to take on rival No. 14 UMass (9-1) on Sunday, Oct. 5. The Providence game will take place at 3 p.m. at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex, while the UMass game will be played at 1 p.m. at the Gladchuk Field Hockey Complex in Amherst, Mass.
Providence has a Big East record of 1-1 and are undefeated on the road (2-0). The Friars rank inside the top 25 in the country in goals per game, averaging 2.67. They have only been shut out once.
Forward Lily Procaccianti is the team’s leading scorer. The junior is tied for the team lead in shots taken and also leads in total points. Junior midfielder Bo Martina has five goals on 17 shots while Carly van Benten has 11 points on seven assists.
While UMass ranks just outside of the top 30 in goals per game, they aren’t far behind Providence with 2.5. Where UMass has really excelled is goal prevention. The Minutewomen have let up just 0.8 goals per game and have posted four shutouts.
Senior goalkeeper Myrte van Herwijnen has been one of the best in the country at her position. Playing every minute of UMass’ season so far, van Herwijnen is third in the country in save percentage at .854 and is averaging 4.56 saves per game. Elena Clococeanu has also been a force on the backend, as the graduate student is tied for the fourth most defensive saves in the country.
UConn will be reliant on junior goalie Natalie McKenna having a good weekend if they hope to compete in either game. In their last contest against Liberty, McKenna faced only two shots and allowed one in. Five games into the season, McKenna carried a 76.6% save percentage while averaging 7.2 saves per game. Both of those numbers have dropped significantly over the last three games, as the save percentage has sunk to 41.7% while her average number of saves has fallen to 1.7 per game. The low number of saves on average is partially due to a lack of shots on goal, but UConn likely won’t receive that luxury against two high powered offenses. McKenna rebounding to her early season numbers will be key to UConn’s success.
Although UConn has dominated the rivalry since the mid-1990s, the Huskies have dropped three out of their last four games against UMass, including a split of the 2024 season series.
UConn has fallen to each of the five top 20 ranked teams that they have faced in 2025, including a loss to No. 5 Liberty last weekend. Providence marks a key early Big East matchup, as the winner will come out with a winning record in conference play. A sweep this weekend would bring UConn’s overall record back to .500 and give them momentum going into a stretch where four of five games are at home.