The Wildcats hit the road for the first time this season on Sunday to take on the University of Connecticut Huskies. However, the first win of the season could not be found in Storrs.
Krissy Schafer’s four-goal performance was not enough to upend the Huskies at home. Despite outscoring UConn in the second half, the Wildcats ultimately fell to the Huskies by a 13-9 final score. Along with Schafer’s efforts, Devan Miller recorded five points on the afternoon with two goals and three assists. UNH scored four unanswered as part of a developing comeback bid, but time was against UNH and the ‘Cats could not tie the score.
Captain Marissa Gurello was the one to get things started. Her tally at 27:59 was the first of the game and gave UNH the early one-goal lead. UConn answered quickly, and then some with a stint of three goals to take a 3-1 lead seven minutes into the contest. Schafer, once again, and Carly Wooters added tallies to keep the ‘Cats within reach, but UNH had trouble holding off the Huskies’ offensive momentum. Most of UNH’s goals in the first half were answered with a multi-goal surge from the Huskies. Kelsey Catalano and Grace Nolan led the way in the first with three goals each. After one half, the Wildcats were trailing 9-4.
In a pleasant change from the first two games, the Wildcats saw the majority of success throughout the game in the second half. UNH registered 11 second-half shots in comparison to UConn’s seven. The ‘Cats were near even with the Huskies in clearing efficiency as well as forced turnovers and draw controls. Although UNH did not recapture the lead at any point in the second half, the ‘Cats were able to generate a strong offensive presence in the closing minutes to round out the game.
“I think that we improved in the second half by capitalizing on their mistakes more in the second half,” head coach Sarah Albrecht said. “However we still had too many turnovers in both halves to compensate for being down in the first half.”
UNH now starts the season 0-3 for the first time since 2012, when the team lost to the likes of Dartmouth, UConn and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Wildcats hit the road yet again for another matchup against the Holy Cross Crusaders. Last season, the ‘Cats secured their second win of the season with a convincing 16-6 win over the Crusaders. History shows that the ‘Cats have had the Crusaders’ number. Dating back to 2009, the Wildcats have won the last seven matchups against Holy Cross.
“Holy Cross is certainly a good team. At this point in time we are concentrated on getting better every day and every game and I think that we have done that,” Albrecht said. “If we continue to work hard and chip away at our mistakes we will be moving in the right direction in our season.”
With a win still in sight, the Wildcats will have an opportunity to grab it on Wednesday, March 1 when they head down to Worcester, Massachusetts to take on the Crusaders at 5 p.m.
For more information on UNH women’s lacrosse, visit the UNH athletics website at unhwildcats.com or visit our website at tnhdigital.com.
