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STORRS, Conn. – The Columbia field hockey team fell to No. 3 Connecticut, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Lions to 1-1 on the young season.
Despite the defeat, head coach Marybeth Freeman praised her teams' effort against one of the top programs in the country.
"We brought a new and exciting energy into this game today," Freeman said. " It showed through our poise on defense and our thoughtfulness with the ball."
"I thought our captains did a great job in leading their respective lines. I like the second and third efforts from Whitney (Hartstone), Meredith (Kalberer) and Kyle (Marsh). Their timing and discipline to stay in the play, tackle back and make the plays happen was top caliber. It was great to see how we were able to control their backfield with movement up front."
The Huskies (3-0) were aggressive off the bat, drawing a myriad of penalty corners in the opening moments. On UConn's fifth corner of the game, Anna Middendorf, gave the defending national champions the lead in the 10th minute.
Scores by Chrissy Davidson and Chloe Hunnable put the Huskies on top, 3-0, heading into halftime.
Another Middendorf tally in the 43rd minute extended the margin to four.
Kimberly Pianucci made eight saves in the defeat. Rebecca Pope had three shots on goal.
"Collectively, this was the most connected I've seen this team play," stated Freeman. " We will be able to take a lot from this game moving forward and I'm proud of how we competed and remained focused for 70 minutes."
The Lions return home for a pair of home contests next weekend when Villanova comes to town on Saturday, Sep. 13 followed by a visit by Fairfield on Sunday, Sep. 14. Both contests are slated for 1 p.m. starts.
