Women's Lacrosse Stops Stanford In Opener, 8-7

BOX SCORE (html)

BOX SCORE (pdf)

STANFORD, Calif. (March 4, 2005) – Senior Tracy Mullaney netted four goals to propel the University of Connecticut women’s lacrosse team to a 8-7 win at Stanford in the Huskies’ season opener on Friday afternoon at Stanford’s Varsity Field Hockey Turf. UConn now stands at 1-0 on the season after winning its sixth season opener in the past eight years. The previously undefeated Cardinal slips to 3-1.

UConn struck first in a game that would see the lead trade hands several times as sophomore Shannon Burke (Camilius, N.Y.) struck just 46 seconds into the contest. Stanford tied the game on a fluke own goal, but UConn retook the lead at 2-1 on a strike by Tanya Kotowicz (Hicksville, N.Y.). Nina Pantano scored the next two goals, part of a four-goal effort, as the cardinal took its first lead at 3-2. Mullaney evened the game again at 3-3 with 17:20 to play in the opening half, converting on a feed from Burke, one of her two assists in the game. Megan Burker put Stanford back up, 4-3, just 19 seconds later with an unassisted tally. The only two goals of the remaining 17 minutes of the half came off of Mullaney’s stick on free position opportunities, giving the Huskies a 5-4 lead at intermission.

Mullaney netted her third consecutive goal just under five minutes into the second half to extend UConn’s advantage to 6-4. The homestanding Cardinal rallied to tie the game yet again as goals from Kelsey Twist and Pantano brought Stanford even with UConn at 6-6 with 15:16 remaining in the contest. Dana Stewart (Havertown, Pa.) put UConn up for good with 10:08 to play off of Burke’s second successful feed of the game. Senior Jacqui Hamilton (Hopkington, Mass.) netted the eventual game-winning goal on a free position shot with 2:04 remaining that put the Huskies on ytop by a 8-6 margin. Pantano netted her fourth and final goal at 1:17, but the Huskies would hang on for the 8-7 victory.

Helping UConn to the victory was a disruptive midfield, led by Burke who caused four turnovers in addition to her goal and two assists. The Huskies also used better poise than their Cardinal counterparts who were flagged for 19 fouls, leading to eight free position opportunities. Jennifer Wong (Greenwood Village, Colo.) made seven saves in the net for UConn while Laura Shane was forced to stop 20 shots in the Cardinal cage.

The Huskies will return to action on Wednesday, March 9 when the team travels to face California-Davis at 6:00 p.m. ET.