Massachusetts Drops Back And Forth Battle With No. 23 UConn, 19-16

STORRS, CT. -- Massachusetts women's lacrosse (2-3) scored seven or more goal in two quarters of play but fell 19-16 to no. 23 UConn (4-2) on Saturday afternoon at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium.

Massachusetts opened up an 8-3 lead in the first quarter of play, thanks to a 7-0 scoring run fueled by Kassidy Morris and Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw. The first quarter run was highlighted by four goals scored in the span of 41 seconds.

Morris tallied four goals on a team-high eight shots. Rodriguez-Shaw also added four goal, while dishing out two assists on the day. Tessa Shields continued to be efficient in attack, scoring four goals on just five shots.

Jordan Dean recorded a game-high 10 draw controls while Rachel Shu and Lauren Carey each tallied two caused turnovers in the matchup. Goalkeeper Catrina Tobin made a game-high 10 saves, playing all 60 minutes in net.

The Huskies were led by Eliza Bowman who scored eight goal on 11 shots.

Breaking Down The Action

UConn opened the scoring in the matchup as a goal from Emma Dacey provided an early 1-0 lead.
Kassidy Morris leveled the score for the Minutewomen, finishing an assist from Lil Hancock to make the score 1-1 with 13:57 on the clock.
UConn responded as Dacey and Eliza Bowman scored a pair of goals to generate a 3-1 Husky advantage.
Four draw controls and two goals from Delaney Rodriguez-Shaw powered a stretch of four goals in 41 seconds for the Minutewomen, creating a 5-3 Massachusetts advantage.
Rodriguez-Shaw and Morris combined for three goals to cap a 7-0 Massachusetts scoring run, ending the first quarter with an 8-3 Minutewomen advantage.
Three goals from Bowman powered a 5-0 UConn scoring run to even the score at 8-8 with 4:50 to play in the first half.
Rayea Davis capped the first half with her first goal of the game, the score 10-8 in favor of the Huskies through 30 minutes of play.
Lil Hancock got the Minutewomen back on the board to open the second half, cutting the deficit to 10-9 one minute into the third quarter.
Three goals from Tessa Shields kept the deficit at one-goal, 13-12, with 4:40 to go in the third quarter.
Jeilinne Bonilla scored a breakaway goal to level the score at 13-13 with 3:44 on the clock.
Rodriguez-Shaw and Shields each scored their fourth goal of the game to maintain a 15-14 advantage at the end of the third quarter of play.
Bowman and Megan O'Brien combined for five goals in the fourth quarter to open up a 19-15 advantage late in the final quarter.
Ava Connaughton scored a late tally to cut down the deficit, but the Minutewomen would fall 19-16 in Storrs.

Notable Numbers

2: Jeilinne Bonilla scored her second career goal, tallying back-to-back games with a score.
3: Connaughton dished out a career-high three assists.
4: Rodriguez-Shaw recorded her third four goal game of the season.
4: Morris tallied four goals, all coming in the first quarter of play.
6: Rodriguez-Shaw recorded six points on four goals and two assists.
8: Massachusetts scored 8 goals in the first quarter, including seven unanswered over the final 8:51 of the first quarter.
8: Morris tallied a team-high 8 shots on the day.
38: The Minutewomen recorded 31 shots, 25 of which were on goal.
41: Massachusetts scored four goals in 41 seconds of game time, ranging from 8:51 to 8:10 in the first quarter.

Series History

With the result, Massachusetts now holds an 16-6 record all-time in the series.
The two opponents last faced each other on April 17, 2024 with UMass claiming a 19-9 win at Garber Field.

Up Next

The Minutewomen cap their three-game road swing on Saturday, March 8 as they face-off against VCU at 12:00 p.m. in Richmond, VA. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be followed live on umassathletics.com or UMassLacrosse on Twitter.

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