The UConn Huskies’ Top 10 Moments of 2021
In a year of pauses and frustration, the athletic programs of the University of Connecticut Huskies rose to the occasion over the past year. Fully entrenched in the rebooted Big East Conference in all sports (with the exception of football and ice hockey), the Huskies embarked on a triumphant year on and off the playing surfaces of Hartford and Storrs.
With a new year fully underway, UConn Illustrated takes one last look at the victorious 365 days that were, ranking the top 10 moments…
#10: Conway Chaos (March 7)
Partly ignited by the two sides’ 2018 postseason meeting, UConn has formed quite the baseball rivalry with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. The simmering battle carried on in the early stages of the 2021 season, which saw the Huskies play their first 16 games outside of The Constitution State.
The first of two contests (which were eventually split) was a thriller that saw the Huskies treat the hometown fans to history they never asked for: though they jumped out to a 3-0 lead (fueled primarily by two Pat Winkel solo home runs), Connecticut trailed 4-3 in the ninth, which often spelled doom for Coastal’s opponents, who were 1-81-1 when trailing after eight innings since the 2018 season.
But Erik Stock’s sac-fly RBI, which scored pinch-runner Andy Hague after Chris Brown’s infield single, tied the game and launched extra innings. Three further frames were needed before Stock once again came through big with a 12th inning base hit that eventually allowed him to score when Reggie Campbell beat a double-play throw on a fielder’s choice. The game would appropriately end on a Caleb Wurster strikeout, as he sat down 10 Chanticleers over 4.2 innings of no-hit ball in relief. UConn’s 22 total strikeouts set a new program single-game record for an extra-inning game.
#9: Soft Re-Launch (May 14)
A common Connecticut theme is 2021 centered on reintroducing themselves to the Big East Conference, often doing so in victorious ways. While the Huskies’ softball program couldn’t add to its record seven Big East titles while serving as the host of the 2021 conference tournament, they did serve as the conference finalist when they topped Butler by a 4-1 final to advance to the championship get-together against Villanova. Freshman pitcher Payton Kinney threw 4.2 innings of shutout softball in relief to earn the win (striking out six) while runs leader Briana Marcelino was driven in twice.
Though UConn fell short of another trophy hoist, they were the only team to defeat the champion Wildcats during the tournament proceedings: the Huskies previously earned a 4-3 win in first-round action, with C Devon Casazza driving in Sami Barnett on an RBI double in the final inning.
#8: California Dreamin’ (November 11)
Though UConn football returned to action this fall (embarking on its first season as a gridiron independent since 2003) after a one-year, COVID-induced hiatus, the Randy Edsall era wasn’t meant to continue. The longest-tenured coach in program history originally announced he’d depart at the end of the season (hours after Connecticut fell to FCS Holy Cross in its home opener), Edsall and UConn eventually came to a “mutual decision” to cut ties immediately. Defensive coordinator Lou Spanos coached the remainder of the season.
Though a major renovation project awaits in Hartford (a program over a decade removed from its last winning season and forced out of the American Athletic Conference), the Huskies snagged a high-profile hire on November 11 in Los Angeles native and former UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora. Returning to the sidelines after a four-year absence, Mora’s resume includes an NFL division title with the Atlanta Falcons and a Pac-12 division crown with the aforementioned Bruins. Mora has wasted no time getting to work: he served as an offensive assistant when the Huskies played No. 19 Houston six days after his hire before an active recruitment period. He also completed his assistant coach roster which will include Spanos, his previous Pasadena companion.
#7: Hoya Sweepa (May 6)
Though they eventually fell to Denver in the conference championship round, UConn’s women’s lacrosse team marked their return to the Big East in style, tying a program record with 12 wins (also set in 2005 and 2016).
The last three tallies all came against Georgetown, finishing it off with a 15-13 win in the semifinals of the Big East Championships. Trailing 6-5 at the halftime intermission, UConn opened the second half on a 7-1 run over the first ten minutes of the second half. Lia LaPrise scored three of her five in that span before helping down the Hoya for good with the last goal of the day with just over three minutes to go. Junior goaltender Landyn White was responsible for each of the wins, tying a matching program record with Shannon Nee from the 2016 group.
#6: Golf’s Big East return up to par and then some (April 28)
Tampa-produced champions weren’t limited to the Super Bowl (though that game did feature former football rep Andrew Adams). Visiting their first Big East Golf Championship since the return UConn found its own version of Paradise in more ways than one…including literally.
Freshman Jimmy Paradise, situated an hour from his Tampa home with the tournament going on in Bowling Green, shot a 68 (good for four under par) in the final round of the three-day Big East contest, giving the Huskies the push they needed to secure their first Big East golf championship since 1994 and their first NCAA appearance since 1999. Recovering from a seven-stroke deficit after the first day, UConn held off a furious challenge from defending champion Marquette to secure the win. Paradise’s overall finish of two under was his best outing of the season, with his final round showing being the best of the tournament behind teammate Caleb Manuel, who pushed UConn into the lead six a six-under at 66 in the middle part.
#5: Trouble In Paradise (November 24)
What’s a UConn men’s basketball season without a multi-overtime thriller in a tournament setting? Sure, it wasn’t an eight-period get-together at Madison Square Garden, nor was it worth four extra periods on the AAC bracket. But a non-conference tilt in the Bahamas provided some early-season fireworks that served a strong national reintroduction to the Husky program
Granted re-entry into the Associated Press’ preseason top 25, the Huskies were granted early-season tests in Nassau through the Battle 4 Atlantis. UConn was tested immediately upon its arrival, paired with fellow preseason honoree Auburn in the opening round. Though the Huskies paced the second half by as much as 15, the Tigers forced two sessions of overtime, which only delayed a Connecticut showcase of present and future.
Cole and fellow senior Tyler Polley put in 24 points, but it was underclassmen that ruled the day: sophomore Adama Sanogo put in a career 30 to finish things off, uniting with Polley to embark on a 14-5 run in the fourth and final session that put the Tigers to sleep. Though the Huskies eventually fell in the following round to Michigan State (settling for third after topping VCU in the consolation final), that game has accounted for No. 11 Auburn’s sole loss this season.
#4: Back on the Dance Floor (March 14)
The 2020-21 UConn men’s basketball season ended in familiar fashion: with the Huskies residing in the Big East and seeing their name revealed on Selection Sunday’s official bracket.
This season’s affair did end in heartbreak: the Huskies missed out on a chance at tying Georgetown’s record for eight conference tournament titles and fell to Maryland in national first-round action. But UConn made its way home with a 15-8 record, good for a .652 winning percentage, their best since the 2014 national title run. The return to the Big Dance ended a three-tournament drought for the Huskies, their longest such streak since going the whole 1980s without.
Despite missing eight games with an elbow injury, James Bouknight earned first-team All-Big East honors. In both the past year and the ongoing season the team has also enjoyed the antics of transfers R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin.
The Huskies also returned to the familiar grounds of the NBA Draft board: Bouknight’s efforts were rewarded with an appearance in the draft’s 11th overall slot, when he was chosen by the Charlotte Hornets in July.
#3: Experts in the (Track and) Field (May 15)
The Huskies return to Big East competition was literally off and running when the conference descended upon the Spire Institute in Geneva, OH, where both the men’s and women’s track and field squads made history.
Anchored by three gold-medal performances, the women’s team earned a program-record 157.5 points in their portion en route to a runner-up posting behind Villanova. Freshman Jasmine Barrow took home the triple jump (12.27 meters) on the latter day of the event after Emma Chee (4.02 meters) and Taylor Woods (6.24 meters) respectively triumphed in the pole vault and long jump. Meanwhile, the men’s group dominated their affair, shattering the event record with 294 points (more than doubling runner-up Georgetown’s effort) and a dozen individual event winners. UConn swept the subsequent individual awards, as Joseph O’Brien and Jordan Torney took home the respective track and field honors while the coaching staff was likewise lauded.
#2: New Home, New Heights for Baseball (May 30)
Connecticut’s baseball program wasted no time christening the diamond of its new home, Elliot Ballpark, with new Husky heights. Recovering from a 5-11 start, UConn not only earned its first regular season conference title in a decade but also earned a sweep of the championships thanks to a win in the Big East Tournament.
Back in full-time action after last season’s abbreviated campaign and fresh off consecutive runner-up finishes in the prior two tournaments, the Huskies went the full distance in earning its fourth Big East trophy hoist. Conference Player of the Year Kyler Fedko lived up to his title in the decisive seventh game of the tournament, going 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot with a pair of runs scored and batted in each in the 10-6 win over Xavier. The outfielder, whose .398 batting average was the best for a UConn batter since Mike Scott, was later chosen in the 12th round by the Minnesota Twins in MLB’s First-Year Player Draft in July.
#1: 30 Rocked (February 8)
Armed with a pre-college resume that could stretch the distance from Hartford to Storrs and back, Paige Bueckers lived up to the hype and then some in her first UConn experience.
Brought in to replace the WNBA-bound production of Crystal Dangerfield, Bueckers wasted no time in leaving her mark on the cherished history of the women’s basketball program. A three-game stretch in February saw her reach at least 30 points in succession, saving the best for last in a hyped No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown against South Carolina. Bueckers accounted for nearly half of the Huskies’ scoring output with 31 in a 63-59 overtime decision over the Gamecocks. She capped things off with a game-sealing triple with 13 seconds remaining off the assist from Olivia Nelson-Ododa, sending Gampel Pavilion into a frenzy. UConn would secure the No. 1 slot in the polls from USC a week later en route to reclaiming its Big East throne. A championship rematch was denied, however, when each favorite was victimized by a Pac-12 upset, the Huskies falling to Arizona.
Bueckers will undoubtedly be one of the names that come to define UConn’s athletic endeavors in 2022: she (along with several of her experienced teammates) is currently working her way back from an injury that has required weeks of rehabilitation while the Huskies have struggled to make their usual impact on the national postseason picture.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
