'Cats Play Host to UConn on Feb. 23

Sunday, February 23

Durham, N.H.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

UConn

Photo by: Helene Bartsch

2/22/2020 5:23:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

2020 UNH Women's Lacrosse
UConn (2-1) at New Hampshire (1-1)
Sunday, February 23 • Tucker Field (Durham, N.H.) • 1 p.m.
Video • Live Stats

The Matchup

UNH has a 7-9 lifetime record against UConn that includes last year's 13-12 victory at Sherman Complex (Storrs, Conn.). • Recap • Box
Last year, the Wildcats rolled out to a 10-5 halftime lead and held a 13-9 advantage at 10:34 of the second half.
UConn trimmed the deficit to 13-12 at 3:03, but the Huskies recorded just one shot the rest of the way – and that was saved by UNH goalie Issy Torres with 1:06 remaining.
Prior to last year, UConn had won four straight in the series.
UNH's most recent home win was March 5, 2014 (11-7 at Bremner Field).

The State of New Hampshire | UNH Women's Lax Home Page

UNH is led by eighth-year head coach Sarah Albrecht, who was named 2019 America East Coach of the Year.
New Hampshire has 24 student-athletes on the 2020 roster with a breakdown of 18 returning letterwinners (seven starters), one transfer and five freshmen.
The Wildcats are 1-1 overall with a 1-0 mark at Tucker Field.
Senior midfielders Rylee Leonard and Michele Smith captain this year's squad. Leonard led last year's team in both assists (22) and points (55); she ranked third – is the top returner – in goals with 33; she also tied for third in draw controls and tallied double digits in ground balls. Smith started all 14 games in which she played and tallied 14 points (6g, 8a).
Leonard and Caroline Hernon were America East All-Conference Second Team selections in 2019. Hernon was the top 'Cat in ground balls, draw controls and caused turnovers; she also contributed 13 points (9g, 4a).
UNH returns two other double-digit point producers in juniors Elizabeth Blanding (13-7-20) and Julia Neyland (10-6-16).
Sophomores Taylor Dudek and Meghan Doyle anchor a young defensive unit.
- Dudek started 11 games, ranked third on the team in caused turnovers and fourth in ground balls, and earned a spot on the 2019 America East All-Rookie Team.
- Doyle started nine games, ranked third in ground balls and fourth in caused turnovers.
Issy Torres started all 17 games in goals and recorded 10 wins en route to being named to the conference's All-Rookie Team last year. She became the first Wildcat goalie to receive that honor since 2010 and the first to reach 10 wins since '10. She ranked third in America East with an 11.64 GAA and that number improved to 10.43 in seven conference games.

A Lot to Lose

UNH lost four of its top five point producers to graduation. The quartet of Catherine Sexton (28-20-48), Devan Miller (40-7-47), Mickenzie Larivee (35-7-42) and Teagan Northrup (13-8-21) combined for 116 goals, 42 assists and 158 points.
To put that in perspective, the team totals were 216-92-308.

What's New

New Hampshire has a new home in 2020 with the completion of Tucker Field, a facility adjacent to Wildcat Stadium dedicated for women's lacrosse and both soccer teams.
There are six new 'Cats, including one transfer, on this year's roster.

The Leaderboard

Emily Curtis (7g) and Julia Neyland (6g, 1a) are tied for the lead with seven points.
Katie Taranto is the only Wildcat with multiple assists – two.
Meghan Doyle, Taylor Dudek, Caroline Hernon and Michele Smith are tied with six ground balls.
Hernon is also atop the list of caused turnovers with seven. Smith is next at four.
Neyland and Ava Schroeder both have four draw controls.

Iona Rallies Past UNH

Iona College scored the last two goals of the game (at 7:31 and 6:05) to rally for a 9-8 victory against New Hampshire at Mazzella Field (New Rochelle, N.Y.) on Sunday, Feb. 16. • Recap • Box
UNH scored the first three goals of the game and led 4-3 at halftime.
Iona surged in front, 7-6, at 18:21.
Caroline Hernon and Emily Curtis scored back-to-back goals at 12:45 and 10:47 to put the Wildcats back in front, 8-7, but UNH was held scoreless the rest of the way.

Strong Second Half Sends 'Cats Past Merrimack

New Hampshire scored the first two goals of the second half to break a 5-5 halftime tie and ignite a 5-1 run that led the Wildcats to a 15-9 victory against Merrimack College on Feb. 12. ) • Recap • Box

The 'Cats faced three two-goal deficits (2-0, 3-1, 4-2) before scoring three consecutive goals in a span of 82 seconds to take a 5-4 lead at 5:25.
It marked the first ever game at Tucker Field as well as the first ever meeting between the UNH and MC lacrosse programs.

Career Firsts

Senior goalkeeper Amanda Gottlieb recorded her first career win in the season opener against Merrimack. She entered the game at the start of the second half with the score tied 5-5 and stopped 6 of 10 shots on goal as UNH outscored the Warriors 10-4 in the last 30 minutes to record a 15-9 win.
Sophomore midfielder Emily Curtis scored her first career goal (and point) at 17:35 of the first half. She went on to score a team-high five goals for five points.
Two freshmen – midfielders Jessie Hounchell and Ava Schroeder – started in their collegiate debuts. Schroeder recorded a team-high four draw controls and also had one ground ball. Hounchell did not tally any stats.
Sophomore attacker Riley Burns started in her Wildcat debut and scored a highlight-reel behind the back goal on her only shot of the game.
Freshman attacker Katie Taranto came off the bench and tallied her first collegiate point with an assist.
Sophomore midfielder Adena Rothbard made her first collegiate start (fourth career game).

Career Highs

Junior midfielder Julia Neyland matched her career high of five points with four goals and an assist vs. Merrimack.
Sophomore attacker Lily Powell matched her personal best of two goals.

Made of Granite

There are five Granite State natives on New Hampshire's roster, and that includes two Wildcats from Amherst: sophomores Taylor Dudek and Abby Cranney.
Senior Caroline Hernon calls Hampton home.
Junior Gabby Masseur hails from Nashua.
Freshman Jessie Hounchell is from Manchester.

At the Polls

UNH was selected third in the 2020 America East Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Wildcats received 35 points to place behind Stony Brook (49) and UAlbany (41). New Hampshire was followed by UMBC (28), Vermont (26), Binghamton (19), UMass Lowell (18) and Hartford (7).

Scouting UConn | UConn home page

The University of Connecticut (Storrs, Conn.) has a 2-1 record following Friday's 20-14 home win against UMass Lowell.
The Huskies opened 2020 with a 19-12 home win against Fairfield, then lost 11-8 to James Madison at the U.S. Lacrosse Headquarters.
UConn is averaging 15.67 goals and 29.0 shots per game while allowing 12.33 goals and 31.7 shots per game.
Lia Laprise (7g, 9a) and Sydney Watson (14g, 1a) are the top point producers. Watson is also atop the team leaderboard in draw controls (22).
Grace Beshlian has started every game and played 128:24 of 180 minutes. She has a 13.08 GAA and .404 save percentage. Beshlian is a four-year starter (49 in 51 career games).
UConn was picked fifth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, and Sydney Watson was voted to the preseason all-conference team. Watson led the team in goals (39), points (51) and draw controls (2) last year.