Spring Break
No. 6 Field Hockey Off To Northeastern For Showdown Of The Huskies
Field Hockey
Marc Gauthier
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Sports
|
No. 6 UConn (12-2) enters the match-up playing their third consecutive road game, while Northeastern (6-7) will be playing their fifth straight home game.
But with the history between these two teams, the negatives of playing on the road and the benefits of being at home will have no role in Wednesday's game.
"They've always put a great team on the field," said head coach Nancy Stevens. "It's one of our best New England rivalries and goes back many years. This is one of the games we circle on our calendar; one of the games that our team, in particular, looks forward to playing. It's a very intense rivalry. When we play Northeastern, both teams go all out."
The rivalry started in 1975, when the two teams played each other for the first time. Since then, the pair have played 30 games, with UConn leading the series 16-14.
With a lifetime series that is nearly even, Wednesday's game is hard to predict, according to Stevens.
"I think our offense is capable of scoring lots of goals," Stevens said. "We have a lot of different players that score in lot of different ways. Our defense has been outstanding. We've had a number of shutouts lately and our defense would like nothing more than to get [another]. With that being said, Northeastern also has a lot of talent. What ever happens, I expect it's going to be a close game."
Wednesday's game follows a weekend that saw the Huskies play against conference foe Georgetown and Princeton.
Even before stepping on the field to take on the Hoyas this past Friday, UConn went into College Park, Md. with a little extra motivation.
"I think that our team was inspired to play at the site of the 2007 Final Four for field hockey," Stevens said. "Maryland has a great venue and our team started out strong."
In Friday's 6-1 victory against the Hoyas, the Huskies came out firing as Lauren Aird scored the team's first goal 13 seconds into the match. After that, Lizzy Peijs scored three consecutive goals in a matter of 12 minutes, 40 seconds.
Be the first to comment on this story