Field Hockey Cruises Into NCAA Quarterfinals
With 4-1 Win Over Massachusetts

Huskies to face Boston University in NCAA Quarterfinals Sunday at 2 p.m.

Connecticut - Massachusetts Boxscore

STORRS, Conn. (November 10, 2007) –
Four different players scored goals as the No. 4 seed University of Connecticut field hockey team coasted to a 4-1 win over Massachusetts in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA Field Hockey Tournament on Saturday at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.

The victory improves Connecticut to 21-2 overall and advances it to the NCAA Quarterfinal round for the third consecutive season, where it will face Boston University, which defeated Iowa 1-0 in double-overtime in Saturday's other first round game in Storrs.

UMass closes out its season 14-9 overall following the loss.

The Connecticut-Boston University game will take place on Sunday, Nov. 11 beginning at 2:00 p.m. (ET) at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex in Storrs.

The winner of Sunday’s Connecticut-Boston University quarterfinal will earn a berth in the 2007 NCAA National Semifinals, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 16 on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park.

Connecticut has advanced to the national semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament eight times previously, with the most recent coming last season. The Huskies won the national championship in 1981 and 1985.

The Huskies are now 23-16 all-time in NCAA Tournament action and move their all-time mark in NCAA first round games to 14-5.

Massachusetts (14-9) took the game's first lead at 1-0 on a goal by Erin Parker at the 18:27 mark.

The UMass lead lasted only 1:05 as UConn responded with a tally by Katie Semanoff (Lehighton, Pa.), her 10th of the season and and third in the last three games, at 19:32, off an assist by Lizzy Peijs (Venlo, Holland) to knot the game at 1-1.

Lauren Aird (Harare, Zimbabwe) added another goal before the half for the Huskies at 24:17 to give UConn a 2-1 advantage at intermission.

UConn freshman Melissa Gonzalez (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) upped the Connecticut margin to 3-1 with her ninth goal of the season at 38:42.

Peijs added her team-leading 16th goal of the season to account for the final 4-1 margin.

For the game, UConn out-shot UMass 20-5 and attempted six penalty corners to the Minutewomen's two.

Scoring Summary                1st     2nd      Final
Massachusetts (14-9)             1       0        1
Connecticut (21-2)               2       2        4

UMass - Parker, Erin (5), 18:27 (King, Cher)
UConn - Semanoff, Katie (10), 19:32 (Peijs, Lizzy)
UConn - Aird, Lauren (11), 24:17
UConn - Gonzalez, Melissa (9), 38:42
UConn - Peijs, Lizzy (16), 50:51

Statistical Summary             UMass     UConn
Shots                           5          20
Saves                          11          2
Penalty Corner                  2          6