By Conor Nevins

Coming into last Friday’s America East Conference opener with the University of Vermont, the Northeastern women’s soccer team was hoping to work on two things that have troubled them so far this year — scoring and injuries.

With senior captain Andi Matthews returning to the lineup after missing seven games with a knee injury, the Huskies (7-3-2, 1-0-1) were able to field their most complete lineup of the season. With the injury bug taken care of, goal-scoring was the main problem facing the Huskies. They took care of that problem on the field.

Showcasing their most potent attack of the season, the Huskies scored four times against the host Catamounts (5-4-1, 0-1), three of which came from sophomore Kristin Kowalik, en route to a 4-1 win in the conference opener. The Huskies came out strong and tallied the first score of the game when Kowalik rifled a shot from 10 yards out 10 minutes into the contest. Vermont would steal a goal just a minute into the second half when Amy Cochran eluded several NU defenders and fired a shot past junior goalkeeper Mariel Wilner.

Two more superb individual efforts from Kowalik led to two more goals for the Huskies midway through the second half, putting the game out of reach. Senior captain Jen North scored off a rebound with 10 minutes left and the Cats were unable to mount any kind of comeback, as the Huskies collected their first points in the young conference season.

Kowalik, last season’s leading scorer for the Huskies, has struggled to find her scoring touch this year, but after recording her first career hat trick, is looking to continue to build off Friday’s impressive performance.

“It was a confidence boost for me because I haven’t been scoring as many goals as I’d like. But it’s even better for the team to show that we are capable of scoring goals,” Kowalik said.

Head coach Ed Matz was pleased his top scorer was able to find her touch in the first conference game of the season.

“It’s been frustrating for her this season because [Kowalik] only practices one way: hard. To see her have a game like that was good for her,” Matz said.

The Huskies took their conference show on the road Sunday against the Hartford Hawks, trying to remain unbeaten in the AE. They would stay unbeaten, but did not get the three points as they tied the Hawks 1-1 in double overtime.

Despite the failure to take the game, it was the first time the Huskies had scored a goal on Hartford’s home field during coach Matz’s tenure as head coach. That goal came from junior Jess Pfeifer as she scored the equalizer off a corner kick with 20 minutes left, notching her second goal of the year. Both teams would put on their defensive fronts in the overtime periods and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Coach Matz said he was pleased with the result, but felt his team deserved more than a tie.

“We had some bad luck throughout the game. I thought we really dominated the second half but couldn’t get a winning goal in,” Matz said.

With a record of 7-3-2, the Huskies now turn their sights to the University of Maine. The Huskies play the Black Bears at Parsons Field Friday at 8 p.m.