STORRS, Conn. (April 11, 2007) - Kristin Link (Slingerlands, N.Y.) scored a team-high four goals and Shannon Burke (Camillus, N.Y.) added two goals and six assists as the No. 19 nationally-ranked University of Connecticut women's lacrosse team defeated Loyola, 15-12, Wednesday afternoon at the George J. Sherman Family Sports Complex.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 7-5 on the season and 1-3 in the BIG EAST, while the Greyhounds, who joined the conference as an associate member last season, dip to 2-10 overall and 0-4 in the league.

Loyola jumped out to a quick 3-0 with back-to-back free position goals, but Laura Trzasko (Plainsboro, N.J.) fired off two goals of her own within :50 to cut the lead to one at the 21:47 mark. After the teams traded off the next two tallies, Whitney Michele (East Rochester, N.Y.) converted a pass from Burke to tie the ballgame at four with 6:39 to go. The remainder of the period was tight as the two squads went back-and-forth scoring until they headed into the intermission with a 6-6 tie.

Link opened the second half with an unassisted goal at 27:23 to give the Huskies the lead for the second time in the game. UConn went on to lead by as many as three goals at 10-7 after Burke rattled off two goals in :33, effectively lengthening the nation's longest goal-scoring streak to 50 games.

Three unanswered goals by the 'Hounds kept Loyola in the game at 10-10 with 22:24 to go, but Tori Joel (Reisterstown, Md.) ended the Huskies' scoring drought off a Burke assist to put them on top for the third and final time at the 13:07 mark. Michele kept the game out of reach, scoring her second and third goals late in the second period to help propel UConn to its 15-12 win.

The Huskies head out on the road to face Holy Cross Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Worcester, Mass. The Pioneers are currently 9-4 on the season after defeating Fairfield, 14-9, Wednesday afternoon in Fairfield, Conn.

2007-04-11