By: Katie Zigelman, News Correspondent
The field hockey team returned to Sweeney Field Sunday to defeat William & Mary 6-0, after losing its first conference game to Old Dominion last Friday 2-0. With the victory, the Huskies improved to 5-5 on the season, and 1-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
The past five games have shown an interesting pattern for the Huskies; they shut their opponents out one game with an abundance of offense and defense, and then the next they are the ones being shutout. This pattern began with the Huskies’ 1-0 win against Boston University Sept. 12, followed by their 2-0 defeat against Providence College Sept. 15.
“That is the issue with this team, we need to find consistency and balance and it all starts with defense,” said head coach Cheryl Murtagh. “If we have the defense then we can capitalize. We are a good scoring team and a good passing team but it all comes from defense.”
Murtagh said she was satisfied with the results of Sunday’s game.
“We put pressure on William & Mary and really took out their passing game,” Murtagh said.
The Huskies scored first, notching three goals within four minutes of each other. Senior midfielder Meg Sweeney, the first to put the Huskies on the board, scored her first goal of the season in the 16th minute.
Junior forward Carolyn Malloy followed with her fifth goal of the season, assisted by junior midfielders Kaela Barker and Annie Clayman. Senior back and captain Anne-Rieke Stuhlmann stepped up and scored the third and final goal of the half in the 20th minute with the help of Malloy and Barker.
The second half played out much like the first, with the Huskies scoring three goals within five and half minutes of one another. Poland scored her fifth and sixth goals of the season just four minutes apart. The first came in the 44th minute with Malloy’s second assist of the night. The second came in the 48th minute and was unassisted. Sophomore forward Nicky Graham found the net for the Huskies sixth and final goal.
Sophomore goalie Lizzie Priest’s third shutout of the season sealed Northeastern’s victory over William & Mary.
The Husky offense that paced the blowout against William & Mary was non-existent during Friday’s game against Old Dominion University.
ODU forward Maarje van Rijswijk didn’t have any trouble weaving her way through the Husky defense as she rifled two shots past Priest. Despite the Huskies offense out-shooting Old Dominion 5-2, they could not find the back of the net.
Murtagh said she was not impressed with the Huskies’ performance against the Lady Monarchs.
“Friday’s game was disappointing, I thought that we would have played them a little tougher,” Murtagh said.
Barker said despite the loss to ODU, the team has to keep an even demeanor.
“We have to stay positive and look at the good things we did but also acknowledge what we did wrong so we can fix it and improve,” Barker said.
The Huskies have a one-week haitus before they take on the University of New Hampshire on Sunday at Sweeney Field.
“We want to keep building on what happened against William & Mary,” said Barker.
