Reviewing Field Hockey's Elite 2003 Campaign

2003 Final Statistics

The 2003 campaign was another in the long line of fruitful seasons for the University of Connecticut field hockey program. The Huskies successfully defended their 2003 BIG EAST Regular Season crown with a 4-1 mark in conference play, and made their seventh appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament Final in the last eight years. The Huskies received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal for the sixth time in the past eight years before bowing out to eventual National Champion Wake Forest.

Once again, UConn played one of the nation’s most demanding schedules, squaring off with a nationally-ranked opponent nine times and recording two victories over Northeastern, and defeating Princeton in its backyard.

Several Huskies earned individual honors for their efforts in 2003. Goaltender Maureen Butler, forward Lauren Henderson, forward Mary Jo Malone, forward Kelly Stolle, midfielder Kelly Stolle, and defender Abby Ostruzka were named to the Division I All-Mideast Region Team. Henderson, Malone, and Butler were named Division I All-Americans. Henderson (First Team) finished the season as the nation’s third leading scorer, Malone (Second Team) enjoyed career-highs in goals (19) and points (48) and Butler (Third Team) tallied nine shutouts in net for UConn, and boasted a career-low 1.15 goals against average en route to earning a 17-6 record in 2003.

The 10th ranked Huskies began the 2003 campaign with two shutout victories against Lafayette and Lehigh in the UConn Field Hockey Classic. Senior defender Laura Thibodeau scored the first goal of the season for UConn and Jennifer Lozito and Mary Jo Malone added two insurance tallies, giving UConn a 3-0 victory. The Huskies dominated Lehigh on day two of the Classic, out-shooting the Mountain Hawks 34-to-4 on the afternoon and earning a 2-0 victory along with the hardware from the UConn Field Hockey Classic.

The Huskies traveled to Happy Valley the following weekend to take on Penn State; a team that advanced to the National Championship Game in 2002. Malone got UConn on the board in the game’s sixth minute, but Penn State answered with two goals and defended its home turf, beating UConn 2-1.

UConn returned to Storrs to square-off with intrastate foe Quinnipiac. The Huskies had the Bobcats number that afternoon, out-shooting Quinnipiac 25-to-7 en route to taking home a 3-0 victory.

Next up for the Huskies was a weekend trip to Norfolk, Virginia to take on a solid Stanford team that was receiving votes in the national poll, and perennial powerhouse Old Dominion. UConn cruised to an easy 4-0 victory over the Cardinal on September 13, but dropped a 4-2 decision to ODU the next day. Connecticut once again jumped out to a 1-0 victory and Henderson tied the game at two a piece with under 30 minutes to go, but the Lady Monarchs scored two unanswered goals to earn the victory.

Now a team that had stood up to some elite competition, UConn returned home to take on BIG EAST rival Villanova on September 20th. Henderson found the back of the net just 3:05 into the game and UConn never looked back as Malone added two more and freshman standout Meagan Hoffman recorded her first career goal giving UConn a 4-0 victory.

UConn played host to Harvard on September 24th. The Huskies were not only undefeated at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex, they were yet to allow a goal. Harvard ended that impressive streak 13 minutes into the contest and added another just three minutes later. The Huskies would not lie down though, as they stormed back to tie the game at two at 50:34 thanks to a goal by Malone. Henderson scored UConn’s first goal making her the 12th Husky to record 100 career points and getting the Huskies on the board. However, Kate McDavitt scored an acrobatic goal off a cross from Elizabeth Andrews and UConn was not able to counter as Harvard snuck away with a 3-2 victory.

Unfortunately for UMass, it was up next on UConn’s schedule. The Huskies out-shot the Minutewomen 22-to-4 on the afternoon en route to a 7-0 victory. Both Henderson and Cea Fong scored twice for Connecticut.

UConn opened up the month of October with a trip to New Haven to take on Yale. To that point, the Huskies had not won a game in 2003 when their opponents scored a goal; all of UConn’s victories were shutouts. Both Kelly Stolle and Henderson scored early goals, but Yale notched a goal of its own with under a minute remaining in the first half, drawing the Bulldogs within one strike. However, Henderson scored yet another goal and Helwig added an insurance tally as UConn exploded for five goals on the evening on its way to a 5-2 victory; its first win when allowing a goal.

UConn welcomed a scrappy New Hampshire team into Storrs that weekend and totally dominated the game. UConn had chance after chance but UNH keeper Christine Buckley did her best impression of a wall, stopping 19 Husky shots that afternoon. Kelly Stolle scored the only goal of the contest with 8:55 remaining in the first half en route to a 1-0 victory for UConn. The Huskies out-shot the Wildcats 29-to-1 on the afternoon.

Next up for the Huskies was a BIG EAST showdown with Boston College. Prior to the contest, Lauren Henderson was honored in a ceremony commemorating her 100th point. Henderson did not miss a beat, as she quickly got UConn on the board just 2:17 into the contest. BC answered just four minutes later though with the game-tying goal, and scored the game-winner in the latter stages of the first half. UConn had several good scoring chances in the second stanza hitting the post twice, but could not capitalize.

The loss came in the middle of a difficult stretch for the Huskies and could have been a demoralizing one. This group responded well though with a 2-1 victory over perennial power and 10th ranked Princeton in New Jersey. Henderson and Hoffman scored for UConn and Maureen Butler made a season-high 12 saves to lead UConn to victory.

The Huskies remained on the road to take on 10th ranked Northeastern, the team that knocked Connecticut out of last year’s NCAA Tournament. UConn dominated Northeastern from the start. Malone and Puddle scored for the Huskies and the Husky defense was unassailable, allowing only six shots from Northeastern’s high powered offense.

UConn concluded a three game road trip with a 5-1 defeat BIG EAST counterpart Rutgers. Henderson scored twice, and Malone, Stolle, and Puddle also found the back of the net for UConn. Thanks to Villanova’s victory over BC, the Wildcats, Eagles, and Huskies were all tied for the conference lead.

Henderson, Stolle, and Helwig each scored in UConn’s 3-1 defeat of Boston University. The Husky defense was suffocating as usual, allowing only five shots, while the Husky offense was potent as ever managing 25 shots on the afternoon.

The win against BU was Coach Stevens’ 199th win at Connecticut. Her 200th came just four days later in a 2-0 triumph over old rival Syracuse.

UConn’s final non-conference regular season tune-up  was a contest against Fairfield in Storrs. UConn jumped all over the stags, scoring eight times, all in the first half, and did not allow Fairfield to find the back of the net. Henderson scored four consecutive goals, and bookend goals were added by Mary Jo Malone.

The Huskies clinched their second straight BIG EAST Regular Season title with a 4-0 shutout victory over Providence. Connecticut finished the regular season with a 15-4 mark.  Next on the schedule was the BIG EAST Tournament in Chestnut Hill, MA. The first round pitted the #1 seeded Huskies against #4 Rutgers and #3 Boston College against #2 Villanova.

UConn’s contest against Rutgers was a microcosm of the entire season. UConn’s leading scorers Lauren Henderson and Mary Jo Malone each found the back of the net, Maureen Butler did not allow a goal, and the Husky defense stymied the Rutgers attack. The Huskies advanced to the Tournament Final for the sixth time in seven years.

The Tournament Final against Boston College was all it was billed up to be. Boston College looked like it would run away with the title when the Eagles took a 3-0 lead in the game’s 41st minute. However, UConn mounted a charge that was capped off by Laura Puddle’s game-tying goal with less than five minutes to go in regulation. BC keeper Lauren Hill made a show stopping save on a shot by Laura Puddle in overtime to thwart the Huskies attempt at victory, and the ensuing counter resulted in an Eagle game-winning goal.

They were not done yet. The Huskies earned an at large bid into the 2003 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship and were selected as one of four teams to host the first two rounds of the 16 team tournament. UConn’s first round opponent was Northeastern, a team UConn had already beaten in the regular season. NU got on the board first, but UConn answered with two goals of its own and advanced to the Quarterfinal round where they would take on the top-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Wake’s Kelly Dostal got the Demon Deacons on the board after she capitalized on a penalty stroke at 13:45. Dostal went on to score twice more, both on penalty corners and Wake advanced to the Final Four. The Demon Deacons would eventually go on to win the National Championship.

2003 Season Highlights

Lauren Henderson

Division I First Team All-American
Division I All-Mideast Region
BIG EAST Conference Offensive Player of the Year
Two time BIG EAST Conference Player of the Week
12th Husky to score 100th career point
Nation’s third leading scorer

Mary Jo Malone

Division I Second Team All-American
Division I All-Mideast Region
All-BIG EAST First Team
Selected to Participate in Division I North/South Senior All-Star Game
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week (9/22)

Maureen Butler

Division I Third Team All-American
Division I All-Mideast Region
BIG EAST Goaltender of the Year
Four time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week
ECAC Goalkeeper of the Week (10/13)

Abby Ostruzka

Division I All-Mideast Region
All-BIG EAST First Team
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week (10/20)

Kelly Stolle

Division I All-Mideast Region
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week (10/6)
All BIG EAST Second Team