Nov. 7, 2009

Courtesy of Connecticut

Providence, R.I. – For the second straight year, No. 2 Connecticut defeated No. 3 Louisville in the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship. The Huskies were backed by a pair of goals from senior Loren Sherer, the nation’s top scorer. The Huskies advance to the championship game for the seventh year in a row and will face No. 1 Syracuse for the second consecutive year.

The game remained scoreless until late in the first half when Sherer tallied a goal at the 26:15 minute mark. The senior forward found the back of the cage after connecting on a pair of passes from junior Kim Krzyk and sophomore Jestine Angelini. Sherer tacked on her BIG EAST-best 30th goal of the season 11 minutes into the second half when Angelini fed her a pass off a penalty corner. Sherer is now one goal short of the Connecticut single-season goals record (31).

Connecticut’s defense proved to be a team effort as sophomore Rayell Heistand and Angelini each had defensive saves to go along with the two saves by senior goalkeeper Andrea Mainiero. With the shutout, Mainiero tied the Connecticut record for total shutouts with 24 over the course of her career. The Cardinals were held to seven shots and seven penalty corners while the Huskies fired 12 shots and earned six corners.

No. 2 Connecticut will face No. 1 Syracuse in the BIG EAST Championship final for the second consecutive year and fifth time overall. The series is tied at two wins apiece with the Orange winning the most recent championship showdown 1-0 in 2008. Connecticut’s last victory over Syracuse in the BIG EAST Championship final was in 1999 when they earned a 2-0 win. The game is set for a 1:00 p.m. start on Nov. 8 at the Friar Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex in Providence, R.I. The game will be streamed live on www.bigeast.tv. Check www.bigeast.org for highlights, box scores, a live blog and game stories.