No. 1 Connecticut Takes Home its Sixth Consecutive #BIGEASTfh Championship Title
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In a battle between top-seeded Connecticut (19-0, 7-0 BIG EAST) and No. 2 seed Liberty (8-11, 5-2 BIG EAST), the nation’s top-ranked Huskies claimed their sixth consecutive BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship title with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Lady Flames on Sunday at Lennon Family Field. The victory gives UConn its 13th title since 2000 and 17th conference crown under head coach Nancy Stevens.
In the opening half, UConn was paced in goals by All-BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Casey Umstead and midfielders Amanda Collins and Jessica Dembrowski.
It took 2:48 for the Huskies to find the back of the net as a pair of freshmen connected. Margot van Heckling Colenbrander fired a shot on net that was saved but deflected in by Dembrowski to give Connecticut and early 1-0 lead.
UConn kept the pressure on Liberty’s defense with Umstead capitalizing off a penalty stroke at 13:29 to increase the lead to two.
Leading 2-0, the Huskies cushioned their lead when the 2017 BIG EAST Field Hockey Collins picked up a loose ball in the circle, to increase the lead to 3-0, with 10 minutes to play in the opening half.
In the closing 45:17 of the game, Liberty kept the Huskies out of the back of the cage but were unable to get anything going offensively to pull off the comeback.
Outshooting the Lady Flames 13-6, Liberty held the advantage in penalty corners 8-5.
With the victory, the Huskies receive the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Field Hockey Championship for their 29th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Collins was named the BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship’s Most Outstanding Player for the second consecutive year with three points on a goal and an assist over the weekend.
Collins was also named to the All-Tournament Team along with her teammates, Umstead, Charlotte Veitner and Karlie Heistand.
The NCAA Selection Show will air tonight at 10 p.m. (ET) on the
NCAA.com homepage, where UConn will find out its upcoming opponent and site of play for the first and second rounds, held on November 11-12.
Most Outstanding Player
Amanda Collins, Connecticut
All-Tournament Team
Danielle Grega, Old Dominion
Anouck Vandersteen, Old Dominion
Megan Guilbert, Providence
Manon van Weezel, Providence
Agueda Moroni, Liberty
Jill Bolton, Liberty
Ashley Dykema, Liberty
Casey Umstead, Connecticut
Charlotte Veitner, Connecticut
Karlie Heistand, Connecticut
Amanda Collins, Connecticut