CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. – A pair of first-half goals carried top-seeded and No. 7-ranked UConn past the No. 16-ranked Old Dominion field hockey team in the finals of the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Conshohocken Proving Grounds.
I'm proud of our team's mental toughness again," head coach Andrew Griffiths said. "We didn't give up and kept fighting with limited subs right until the final whistle. We were close to getting some outcomes and had them under pressure, and I felt that if we could get the right bounce in the circle, the game would tilt heavily in our favor. This season has been unusual in that we did not play Connecticut in the regular season. We have done well with playing teams a second time. So knowing now how they play, we are looking forward to playing them again in the fall."
Saturday was a rematch of the 2019 BIG EAST final, which the Huskies won by an identical 2-0 score. UConn (11-1) was in its 19th straight conference tournament final, winning the past nine.
The lone shot attempt from either team in the first quarter found the back of the cage as Erica Solomen scored 98 seconds into the match. Cam MacGillivray made a pair of saves in the second half to keep the deficit at one goal, but UConn scored with just over two minutes remaining in the half when Aiyi Young tucked home a rebound.
UConn held a 6-0 edge in total shots in the first 30 minutes. MacGillivray made three saves in the opening half, all coming in the second quarter.
MacGillivray produced a highlight stop in the third quarter with a blocker save from point-blank range. That would be the lone shot on goal in the period as ODU (9-5) was once again held without a shot. The redshirt junior from Calgary, Alberta was called upon twice more in the fourth quarter and made a pair of standout saves in quick succession to keep the door open for the third-seeded Monarchs.
MacGillivray made six saves on Saturday to follow up a five-save outing against No. 6 Liberty in Thursday's semifinal and now has 56 stops this season.
Pushing hard for a breakthrough, ODU took its first shots of the game in the 58th minute. Marlon de Bruijne received the ball in an excellent position near the UConn goal but was twice denied by Cheyenne Sprecher.
"We adapted well in the second half and started playing more aggressively, which changed the tempo and the flow of the game," Griffiths said. "We just came up short getting the final connection to create clear goal scoring opportunities."
Saturday's shutout was the seventh in a row for the Huskies, who have not allowed a goal in 443:54 of action.
De Bruijne, Delphine Le Jeune, MacGillivray and Marlee McClendon were all named to the BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the match. De Bruijne scored both of ODU's goals in its 2-1 win over the Flames in the semifinals.
The Monarchs now wait to see if they receive one of three at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for 10 p.m. tonight on ncaa.com.
No. 16 Field Hockey Falls 2-0 to No. 7 UConn in BIG EAST Finals
