By: Mike Brown, News Correspondent
After being named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Field Hockey Rookie of the Year in 2009, expectations were high for Crystal Poland coming into this season and she has not disappointed.
Poland, a sophomore forward/midfielder from Crofton, British Columbia, leads the field hockey team with six goals in the team’s first ten games. Her three goals this past week have earned her Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
“She has some great skills, and she knows where to be around the goal,” head coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “She’s a playmaker.”
Poland scored a goal against Harvard last Wednesday, then followed that up with a two-goal performance in the Huskies’ 6-0 win over William & Mary Sunday.
This season, Poland has had to make a shift to midfield from her normal position of forward because of an injury to a teammate. While the transition has not been seamless in her eyes, Poland has had considerable success this year.
“I’m getting used to working with [teammates] more,” Poland said.
Coach Murtagh has been pleased with Poland’s ability to find open teammates on offense. “Players know if they get free, Crystal will get them the ball,” she said.
Poland is picking up right where she left off last season, when she scored 12 goals in 18 games and was named to the CAA First Team, which consists of the best players at each position in the conference.
“[Winning Rookie of the Year] was a surprise,” Poland said. “It was pretty cool, we don’t really have things like [an all-conference team] in Canada.”
During her freshman season, Poland led the team in goals, points, shots on goal and game-winning goals. She is the only freshman to have led the Huskies in points since the field hockey program started league play in 1989.
This season, Poland has taken 32 percent of Northeastern’s shots on goal, and her 14 points are second only to junior forward Carolyn Malloy’s 17. So far the Huskies are 5-5 on the season with 10 games lrft to play.
Poland, who has appeared for the Canadian National Team, came to Northeastern partially because of the program’s recent history of Canadian players.
“I have a lot of respect for Vancouver-area players,” Murtagh said. Some Canadian teams come to play in U.S. tournaments, where NCAA programs have the opportunity to recognize players like Poland.
The other big reason that Poland, a business major, chose Northeastern was the co-op program. “Academics are important too,” she said.
Poland said she hopes to use her degree to become a sports agent.
“I want to stay connected to sports,” she added.
Balancing schoolwork and field hockey isn’t too difficult now for Poland, but that wasn’t the case last year. Poland took a year off from school after graduating from Cowichan Secondary School in British Columbia.
“It was hard to get back [to school],” she said.
Poland, who said she enjoys shopping, keeps herself very busy between field hockey and school.
“I don’t really have a lot of free time,” she said.
Poland looks to lead the Huskies to their second straight victory when they host the University of New Hampshire at Parsons field Sunday at 2 p.m.
