The Hoyas put up a valiant fight against nationally ranked University of Connecticut, but their efforts were in vain as the Huskies swiped away the Blue and Gray 6-1.

The Huskies piled on the pressure from the starting whistle, and it was only a matter of three minutes before the hosts scored the first goal of the afternoon – an unassisted shot off a rebound by the Huskies’ senior defender Lauren Aird.

The upperclassman from Zimbabwe was UConn’s player of the match, accounting for half of the goals scored against the Hoyas. The Huskies were up 2-0 when Aird slipped in a long pass off a penalty corner to get her second goal of the match and the Huskies’ third.

Aird picked up the hat trick halfway though the second half with yet another goal off a penalty corner – Aird blasted in a shot from point-blank range off a penalty corner, and senior goalkeeper Dee Crovo was unable to stop the Husky defender from grabbing her third and her team’s fifth of the match.

The Hoyas managed to grab a consolation goal 10 minutes after Aird completed her hat trick – junior forward Kristen Volpe grabbed her second goal in as many games for the Hoyas in the 57th minute off a penalty corner. Senior defender Ashton Hospodar set up the corner, passing the ball over to sophomore midfielder Annika Bannon. Bannon then fed through a pass to Volpe, who rocketed it into the back of the net for the Hoyas’ only score of the match.

The Huskies followed up with one more goal of their own in the dying minutes of play to distance themselves significantly from the Hoyas, ending the 70 minutes with a five-goal advantage over the Blue and Gray.

The Hoyas’ last opponent of the season will be Big East rival Louisville. The Hoyas and the Cardinals will face off in Louisville, Ky., at 1 p.m.

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