Spring Break
Huskies carry momentum on the road
Max Jabbonsky
Issue date: 4/3/09 Section: Sports
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On Friday, the Huskies (2-9, 2-1) will travel to Maryland and take on the 7-3 (0-2) Greyhounds of Loyola. The Huskies will attempt to win three consecutive in-conference games.
This feat hasn't occurred since the 2005 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Champion team, which was led by Shannon Burke, the top scorer in the program's young history.
"We were happy to get our first couple of wins last week, but we can't be satisfied with that," said Whitney Michele, who scored the winning goal in last Sunday's victory over Louisville. "We're going into this weekend with a lot of confidence and need to put that towards winning more games."
A large part of getting a win against Loyola will come in stopping sophomore Grace Gavin, who has 36 goals through the Greyhounds' first 10 games. In their most recent game, a 16-13 loss that came at the hands of Notre Dame, Gavin scored four goals and assisted on another en route to being named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for the third straight week.
Gavin will go head-to-head with UConn goalie Anna Wallingford, whose effort against Louisville and Cincinnati resulted in her being named to the Weekly Honor Roll as well. In addition to that, the freshman was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week and to the WomensLacrosse.com Honor Roll.
"Anna has really been great," said Michele. "It seems like she gets a big save every time we need it. We wouldn't have won either of [last week's] games if it weren't for her."
Following their game against Loyola, the Huskies will make the short trip from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. to take on Georgetown (7-3, 2-0).
Like the Huskies, Georgetown is coming off of an undefeated week, with wins against Notre Dame and Rutgers. In those games, the Hoyas were led offensively by sophomore Jacqueline Giles, who scored five goals, including a hat trick in the come-from-behind win against the Fighting Irish.
Midfielder Jordan Trautman continues her career as a standout performer on defense, having been named a second-team All-American a year ago. A former star at Loomis Chaffee in Windsor, Trautman leads the Hoyas with 16 forced turnovers, four of which came against Notre Dame.
Despite the team's slow start - losing its first nine games of the season - they picked a good time to start winning. The Huskies' 2-1 record in conference play is currently good enough to occupy third place in the Big East, and the team will have to stay in the top four in order to advance to postseason play.
"We had a rough start, but our goals are still attainable," Michele said. "Hopefully we'll build on last weekend's success and make the tournament."
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