Syracuse University
No. 7 University of Connecticut
First Place at Stake
10/15/2009 10:29:46 AM | Field Hockey
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STORRS, Conn. – The sixth-ranked Syracuse University field hockey team travels to No. 7 Connecticut for a date with the Huskies on Sat., Oct. 17 at noon. Both teams are undefeated in the BIG EAST and the winner of Saturday's game will have the inside track on the regular-season championship and the top seed in next month's BIG EAST Championship.
Syracuse's second-most familiar foe, Connecticut leads the series at 25-6-1. The Huskies have defeated the Orange in nine of the last 10 match-ups. SU is 3-9 all-time against the Huskies in Storrs.
The Orange pushed its win streak to 10 and improved to 13-1 overall and 3-0 in BIG EAST play after defeating Georgetown, 10-0, on Oct. 9 and Dartmouth, 2-0, on Oct. 11. Junior forward Lindsey Conrad has recorded a team-best 31 points off a team-high 12 goals and seven assists. Sophomore midfielder Martina Loncarica leads the team in assists with nine. Freshman goalkeeper Leann Stiver has a goal-against-average of 1.13 and a saves percentage of .789 in the cage for the Orange.
Rebounding from the team's first loss of the season at Princeton, UConn defeated UMass, Yale and Northeastern in the Huskies' last three games. UConn, which currently sit atop the BIG EAST standings with Syracuse, shutout the Minutemen, 3-0, defeated Yale, 5-3 and shutout Northeastern, 5-0. On the field, UConn is led by senior forward Loren Sherer. The English transfer convincingly leads the BIG EAST in most offensive categories, including shots (96), points (60), goals (23), assists (14) and game-winning goals (7). She has earned five BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week awards, tied for most weekly awards in one season in the history of the conference. Her streak of four consecutive weekly honors is the longest in BIG EAST history. In net, the Huskies are led by Andrea Mainiero. The UConn graduate student ranks first in the BIG EAST in shutouts (5), and second in GAA (1.02) and Save Percentage (.779).
