Connecticut coach Nancy Stevens said the right things.

Before the Big East field hockey tournament, Stevens called leading scorer Lauren Henderson into her office to talk about improving her game.

The sophomore, who led UConn in regular-season scoring with 44 points, listened.

Henderson notched three goals during the weekend and was named tournament MVP as Connecticut captured its sixth Big East championship, beating Villanova, 3-1, in the title game.

‘It’s important that good players still work to get better,’ Stevens said. ‘She made a commitment coming in this weekend to play the best hockey coming into this weekend.’

Clearly, Henderson followed through. The forward ripped two corners past Villanova goaltender Meghan Helwig, increasing her goal total to 23.

‘I work really hard (on corners),’ Henderson said, ‘but my teammates all helped me do it.’

Henderson had extra motivation because the Huskies failed to make the tournament last year. After a year of rebuilding and working with teammates, she sensed that this would be a special year.

‘(Winning) is everything I thought it would be,’ Henderson said.

The Huskies spent most of the game on attack, repeatedly challenging the Villanova defense and drawing penalty corners. The Huskies finished with 15 corners to Villanova’s six.

‘We play a passing game,’ UConn’s Becky Helwig said. ‘We used that to our advantage, and we didn’t throw away the ball.’

The Huskies also made key defensive adjustments to Villanova’s Rory Rogers, who netted a hat trick in Friday’s 5-4 win over Boston College.

‘Our philosophy is an attack defense,’ Stevens said. ‘That forced Rory into a defensive posture. We forced her to play defense for most of the game.’

With Villanova’s best player on her heels, UConn easily sliced through the defense, generating many scoring opportunities while giving goalkeeper Maureen Butler an easy day. Butler only had to stop four shots to record her 14th win.

Said Stevens: ‘We took advantage of our opportunities.’

***

Lovers not haters

Stevens gathered her players before Friday’s 1-0 overtime win against Syracuse and had one message for her team: Love beats hate.

The UConn coach delivered that message in response to Syracuse senior Becky Kohler, who said last Tuesday she ‘hated UConn.’

‘I saw a copy of (The Daily Orange),’ Stevens said. ‘We play for the love of the game.’

But Stevens understood where Kohler, who beat Connecticut just once in her five-year career, was coming from.

‘Year after year, we lose to Old Dominion,’ Stevens said. ‘It gets frustrating when you lose to a team time and time again.’

***

Family feud

Russell Helwig knew this day would come.

On one side of the field stood his oldest daughter, Meghan, in her final game for Villanova. Standing about 50 yards away from Meghan was his other daughter, Becky, a Huskie.

‘It’s not fun,’ Russell said. ‘You just hope both play well.’

‘They didn’t know what to do,’ Meghan said. ‘They didn’t know which side to root for.’

A little less than 10 minutes into the second half, Russell didn’t know whether to cheer or to fall silent when Becky slipped a shot — which proved to be the game-winning goal — past Meghan.

‘It was bittersweet,’ Becky said. ‘It’s glorifying but not as much because it was her.’

The sisters spent most of Saturday together, but ‘nothing (was) evil,’ Meghan said.

But Sunday, the two sisters didn’t speak to each other until after the game ended.

‘It’s a totally different game, and it’s hard playing against her,’ Becky said. ‘We were both playing for something extra, to have bragging rights at home. It doesn’t feel that good.’

***

Freshman phenom

It was a no-brainer where Rogers would attend college.

Hailing from Rosemont, Pa., Rogers grew up a mile and a half from Villanova.

‘I followed everything (at Villanova),’ Rogers said. ‘Basketball, field hockey, everything.’

But instead of watching from the stands like in the past, Rogers made an appearance on the field. The freshman netted a hat trick Friday night as Villanova beat Boston College, 5-4, in a thrilling goal-for-goal game.

‘It was well-deserved,’ Villanova head coach Joanie Milhous said. ‘She’s been amazing. It was a culmination of her entire season.’

Rogers appeared in all 20 games for the Wildcats, starting 19. During that time, she amassed nine goals and four assists to finish third on the team in scoring.

Even with all of her offensive success this season, Rogers knows she still has lots to learn.

‘I’ve always been an attack player,’ Rogers said, ‘but I need to work on defense to help my team out.’

With three more years, there will be plenty of time to improve.

‘She’s one of those girls that comes out for big games,’ Milhous said. ‘It didn’t surprise me. She’s done that a zillion times, but now everyone else saw it.’

***

This and that

Since coming to Connecticut in 1990, Stevens has racked up six tournament championships and won 187 games.

‘Once you get the first one, it’s going to be hard to keep them out of it,’ Stevens said. ‘If we don’t win the regular season and the tournament and go to the NCAAs, it’s a disappointing season.’

Published on November 10, 2002 at 12:00 pm