After beating Old Dominion University (8-10) to advance to the finals, No. 11 UConn (11-8) fell in overtime of the 2025 Big East Field Hockey Championship to No. 7 Liberty University.
Liberty entered Sunday’s contest 7-0 in Big East play. The Flames beat Villanova University (5-13) 3-1 on Friday in the semifinals to advance to the championship.
Liberty and UConn faced off once already, early in conference play, with the Flames shutting out the Huskies in a 1-0 defensive battle. It was UConn’s only regular season Big East loss.
While the Flames would score first when freshman Morena Giacosa put a rebound away for the game’s first goal, UConn avoided a second consecutive goose egg on Zita Grigoliet’s unassisted goal with seven minutes left in the first half.
That 1-1 tie would hold throughout the second half, with both UConn junior goalie Natalie McKenna and Liberty freshman Diane Saint John putting up strong performances. Saint John, the 2025 Big East Goalkeeper of the Year, made four saves in the half.
McKenna had eight over the course of the contest.
With neither team finding the net, the game would enter sudden death overtime with a trip to the 2025 NCAA field hockey tournament on the line.
That didn’t last long, as senior Lou Combrinck, Liberty’s leading goal scorer, ended it on a corner penalty attempt just over two minutes into overtime. The game winner was assisted by Julieta Tornati.
To reach the championship game, UConn first had to take on Old Dominion in Friday’s semifinals. After narrowly inching out the Monarchs in an overtime win earlier in the year, the Huskies handled them handily in this one, winning 4-1.
Freshman Pien Prins had a pair of goals, with Fien Hollander and Abby Davidson chipping in one each as well. Sol Simone and Grigoliet each had a goal for the Huskies.
Sian Emslie, the Monarchs’ leading point scorer, had Old Dominion’s only goal. McKenna made four saves on the day as the Huskies limited Old Dominion to just five shots. In comparison, UConn took 16 shots and placed 10 on goal.
Prior to the beginning of the tournament, multiple Huskies were named to all-conference teams. Senior midfielders Juana Garcia and Simone were named to the first team. Senior forward Julia Bressler and McKenna were named to the second team. In addition to making the all-conference first team, Simone was named Midfielder of the Year.
Liberty will now receive the Big East’s automatic bid for the 2025 NCAA field hockey tournament. Unless they make the field as an at-large selection, UConn’s season will come to an end.