Mullaney, Wong Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors

STORRS, Conn. (April 11, 2005) – University of Connecticut senior midfielder Tracy Mullaney (Cockeysville, Md.) was named the BIG EAST Conference’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week in women’s lacrosse and senior goalkeeper Jennifer Wong (Greenwood Village, Colo.) was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. Mullaney shared the award with Meghan O’Connell of Syracuse.

The tandem helped UConn (8-3 overall, 3-1 BIG EAST) to a pair of league wins this past week as the Huskies downed Boston College, 12-8 on April 7, and Rutgers, 11-5 on April 10. The two wins secured UConn’s first ever winning season in BIG EAST play and, with a win at Georgetown on April 23, UConn would secure at least a share of its first conference championship. The Huskies’ best previous BIG EAST finish was a 3-3 mark in 2002. It is the first time UConn has won two conference games in one week since 2002, and just the second such instance is school history. Additionally, UConn’s win at Rutgers was its first ever over the Scarlet Knights on their home field.

Mullaney and Wong are the first Huskies to earn weekly BIG EAST citations this year. For Wong, it is the first of her career as she becomes the first UConn defensive player to receive the award since Jamie Byrnes won it on March 24, 2003. Wong is the first UConn goalkeeper to ever earn the honor. Mullaney won the award for the third time in her illustrious career, the others coming outright on April 19 of last season and on March 24, 2003, when she shared it with Leigh-Ann Zimmer of Syracuse.

A week after becoming the leading scorer in UConn history with her five-goal effort at Notre Dame on April 1, Mullaney continued her tear, leading UConn with six points (five goals and an assist) in its pair of BIG EAST wins. Mullaney netted the game-winning goal against Boston College on April 7, also contributing three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Her hat trick at Rutgers tied Pam Lowie's UConn career record of 28. A consistent player, Mullaney now has a goal in each of UConn's last 18 games, the fourth longest such streak in school history and one within striking distance of the record run of 21 by Lowie. For the season, Mullaney has 34 goals and eight assists for 42 points, placing her amongst the national and BIG EAST scoring leaders.

Wong had a total of 24 saves, a combined save percentage of .649 and a 6.50 goals against average in UConn's two BIG EAST wins this week, including a season-high tying 14 saves at Rutgers. In that game, she held the Scarlet Knights to five goals, equaling their season-low set at No. 1 Northwestern on April 1. Wong is a perfect 3-0 in BIG EAST play this season and her eight wins overall this year, against two losses, are already just two shy of April Pollock's school season record of 10 set in 2000. Wong has started all 11 of UConn’s games in 2005 and boasts a 9.21 GAA accompanied by a .527 save percentage.

UConn returns to action on Saturday, April 16, when the Huskies play host to Holy Cross at 1:00 p.m. at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium.