Spring Break
Huskies Travel To Face Nation's Best
Lacrosse
Mike Northup
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: Sports
Coming off last Friday's 18-16 double-overtime loss to Syracuse, the lacrosse team will try to get back to their winning ways this weekend. That will be no simple task for the team as they face arguably their toughest competition all year.
The Huskies (5-2, 0-1 Big East) take on No. 11 Notre Dame (7-2, 1-1) today in South Bend, Ind. Then, 7 p.m. Sunday the team will head to Evanston, Ill. to take on No. 1 Northwestern (5-1) at noon. Despite losing last Friday, the Huskies moved up to No. 19 in the IWLCA coaches' poll in the country.
At the very least, the loss to Syracuse last Friday showed that the Huskies can hang with some of the tougher competition in the country. The Huskies nearly squeaked out the win in front of a record crowd last Friday, leading until the Orange's Kristin Brady tied the game up with 27 seconds left in regulation. In the game, eight different Huskies tallied a goal, including Janet Williams, Whitney Michele and Katy Ryan, who each had three.
While no coach ever wants their team to lose, head coach Megan Cersosimo said that the Huskies came away from the match last Friday with a great deal of confidence.
"They finally did believe from the second that they took the field and they basically know now that they are a very good team and they can hang with the best of them," Cerosismo said. "So they walked away thinking 'we played well', but we need to close out a game and we should have beaten Syracuse."
Shannon Burke also extended her goal-scoring streak to 43 games in a row in the game, finishing with 2 goals and 4 assists on the day. Her 45 points this season leave her just 13 points shy of the UConn career record of 203, set by Tracy Mullaney from 2002 to 2005.
While Notre Dame and Northwestern may appear like an overwhelming task to tackle all in one weekend, Cersosimo believes that UConn has every ability to come out of the two tough games on top.
"I think it's the perfect time to hit them," Cersosimo said. "We've had plenty of time to rest after Syracuse and to pick apart our attack and defense to get it totally ready to go. I think [the players'] attitudes are right where they need to be. It's definitely not easy on them physically because we play Friday and then Sunday, but if any team can do it it's them."
The Huskies (5-2, 0-1 Big East) take on No. 11 Notre Dame (7-2, 1-1) today in South Bend, Ind. Then, 7 p.m. Sunday the team will head to Evanston, Ill. to take on No. 1 Northwestern (5-1) at noon. Despite losing last Friday, the Huskies moved up to No. 19 in the IWLCA coaches' poll in the country.
At the very least, the loss to Syracuse last Friday showed that the Huskies can hang with some of the tougher competition in the country. The Huskies nearly squeaked out the win in front of a record crowd last Friday, leading until the Orange's Kristin Brady tied the game up with 27 seconds left in regulation. In the game, eight different Huskies tallied a goal, including Janet Williams, Whitney Michele and Katy Ryan, who each had three.
While no coach ever wants their team to lose, head coach Megan Cersosimo said that the Huskies came away from the match last Friday with a great deal of confidence.
"They finally did believe from the second that they took the field and they basically know now that they are a very good team and they can hang with the best of them," Cerosismo said. "So they walked away thinking 'we played well', but we need to close out a game and we should have beaten Syracuse."
Shannon Burke also extended her goal-scoring streak to 43 games in a row in the game, finishing with 2 goals and 4 assists on the day. Her 45 points this season leave her just 13 points shy of the UConn career record of 203, set by Tracy Mullaney from 2002 to 2005.
While Notre Dame and Northwestern may appear like an overwhelming task to tackle all in one weekend, Cersosimo believes that UConn has every ability to come out of the two tough games on top.
"I think it's the perfect time to hit them," Cersosimo said. "We've had plenty of time to rest after Syracuse and to pick apart our attack and defense to get it totally ready to go. I think [the players'] attitudes are right where they need to be. It's definitely not easy on them physically because we play Friday and then Sunday, but if any team can do it it's them."
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