Huskies' Comeback Falls Short in BIG EAST Championship

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The UConn women's lacrosse team's comeback fell short to the Denver Pioneers in the BIG EAST Championship game on Saturday afternoon on the Xavier University campus in Cincy.

It was a scoreless first quarter for the Huskies as the Pios notched five goals in those first 15 minutes. Veteran goalkeeper, Landyn White, had four saves on 10 shots to start the game.

Denver continued their scoring run into the second quarter, with a goal at 14:16. Susan Lafountain halted the Denver scoring offense with a goal on a pass from Abby Charron to put UConn on the board. The Pioneers extended their lead once again with three more goals in a row to go up 9-1 on the Huskies. UConn cut the lead with two goals in a row from grad student, Kate Shaffer, and one more from Madelyn George to make it 9-4 going into halftime.  

The Pios, once again, opened the quarter with a goal at 11:42 on the clock. UConn senior, Lauren Barry, followed up quickly with a goal of her own to cut the lead once again. Denver scored once more to extend their lead back to six. Shea van den Broek found the back of the net off a pass from Lafountain to keep the Huskies within five of the Pios with less than 8:00 to go. Another goal from Denver would extend the lead once again. On a pass from Lafountain, Eliza Bowman notched her first and only goal of the afternoon before Denver would answer with another goal of their own. On a free position attempt, Shaffer capitalized to end the third quarter at 13-8.

UConn turned on the jets for the final quarter of the game as they launched their comeback attempt. Charron scored first to open the fourth quarter, cutting the Pioneers lead to four, the lowest since the first quarter. On a free position shot, Denver put it past White to regain the five goal lead. The Huskies then notched five goals in a row in less than 8:00 minutes; Shaffer with two, Lafountain with two, and van den Broek with the final goal to tie the game up at 14 apiece. With less than a minute to play, Denver found the back of the net to regain the lead. After being awarded the draw on a foul in the midfield, the Pios solidified their win with a goal in the final second of the game, making the score 16-14.

Named to the All-Tournament team was Kate Shaffer, Susan Lafountain, and Abby Beran. The grad student attacker, Shaffer, had five goals, three assists, one ground ball, and one draw control. The senior attacker, Lafountain, had three goals and two assists, while the freshman defender, Beran, collected three ground balls, six draws, and caused one turnover.

Goalkeeper, Landyn White, had 12 saves in the loss. Grad student midfielder, Madelyn George, scored one goal, collected two ground balls, six draws, and caused two turnovers. UConn outdrew Denver, 19-15 on the day.