The Wildcats’ struggles with fundamentals continued at Cowell Stadium on Saturday.
UNH faced a tall task in the form of the No. 20 UConn Huskies and was unable to gain any momentum throughout the game. The end result was a 13-7 loss, the Wildcats’ third straight loss, which drops their record to 1-3 on the season.
“I think they’re just trying to get a handle on themselves and what kind of team they want to be this year,” head coach Sarah Albrecht said. “We are playing some tough teams, but I think they are pushing us to be better and we have to push ourselves to get better.”
The Huskies jumped out to an early 2-0 lead only minutes into the first half, with goals from Alexander Croft and Kelsey Catalano. Devan Miller for the Wildcats tallied a goal to make it 2-1 but that was the only noise the Wildcats would make early on.
UConn went on to score 4 consecutive goals after Miller’s tally. UConn mounted a tough defensive line, and even when the Wildcats could break through it, they struggled to beat the Huskies’ goaltender, Sarah Nee.
Devon Croak and Carly Wooters finally found the back of the net in the later part of the first half, but the Wildcats went into the locker room at half time facing an 10- 4 deficit. Despite the deficit, Wooters’ goal marked her fourth consecutive game with a goal, and the sophomore midfielder feels as though she and her teammates on attack are finding chemistry.
“I think that all of us on attack, we’re just really starting to figure out how we work with each other and it’s really just coming around,” Wooters said. “Slowly but surely we will get there, and not just me doing well. It’s going to be everybody else together.”
The Wildcats played better defensively to open the second frame. Unfortunately, the Huskies’ offense still created opportunities to score. UConn put together three more solid scoring chances that ended in goals to increase its lead to 13 – 4.
Savanna Fiehler, Miller and Krissy Schafer all recorded late goals for UNH, but the rally wasn’t enough to lift the Wildcats and the game ended 13-7.
“We just needed to execute our fundamentals better,” Albrecht said. “I think we had to get back to doing our fundamentals and what’s [gotten] us the turnovers.”
The Wildcats will look to end their losing streak when they face off against Holy Cross on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at home. Wooters said that the team will use the losses to galvanize a better effort.
“We’re just going to take all of our frustration on these past couple of games and just going to go as hard as we can,” Wooters said. “We just need to work a little bit harder, and then we are almost there. We just need to stay in it for the 60 minutes.”