By Katie Zigelman, News Correspondent

After 21 games, the field hockey season ended with a 4-0 loss to Old Dominion University (ODU) in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) playoffs Sunday.
The team finished the season fourth in the CAA with a 5-3 record and ranked 29th in the NCAA with a 10-11 overall record.

Despite out-shooting the Lady Monarchs 14-8, the Huskies were unable to beat ODU, who went on to win the CAA Championship against Drexel University 1-0 Sunday in double overtime.

Forwards Anna Kern and Paige Clutter jump-started the scoring for the Lady Monarchs in the first half with one goal apiece, while midfielder Loran Hatch scored the final two goals in the second half advancing her team to the championship game against Drexel University.

“I was disappointed with the finish,” head coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “We outshot Old Dominion and had more penalty corners in the beginning, but overall I am really happy for the team, for all they achieved this season and for how they grew as a team. I am really proud of all the games that they came through – they really dug deep and made plays that we were never able to make before.”

Murtagh talked about some of the main highlights from the season, including the team’s win over Drexel.

“The Drexel game, we were able to beat the team to beat,” Murtagh said. “The Hofstra game, we really dominated, and the Towson game, we were able to make a comeback in overtime after they tied the game. These are the things that we are going to remember from this season.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Lizzie Priest stood strong in net for the Huskies this season, recording 13-save performances against then-nationally ranked teams, No. 15 Boston University and No. 20 Stanford Sept. 12 and Oct. 18, respectively, and the Huskies won both.

The team managed four shutouts behind Priest and ended a total of three games in overtime, winning two of them. One victory was the Stanford game, and the other came against Virginia Commonwealth University Oct. 29.

Amidst the successes of the 2010 season, sophomore forward Crystal Poland said she will remember the fight and focus the team possessed all season.

“When we weren’t doing well, we never gave up our drive to work towards playoffs,” Poland said. “We kept pushing forward and ultimately we made it. We kept trying and kept our heads in it the whole time.”

The Huskies began the season with four very clear, well defined goals: make it to the CAA Tournament, being ranked in the top 20 in the country, being the No. 1 team in Boston and play in the NCAA Tournament, Murtagh said.

The team did make it to the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2007, but was nine spots away from being top 20 in the nation, finishing behind both Boston College and BU.

“This was an improvement from last year where we had the same goals and didn’t make any of them,” Poland said.

With senior midfielder Meg Sweeney and back Anne-Rieke Stuhlmann leaving the team, 21 players will return next year, making playoff hopes a reality and goal for next season, Murtagh said.

“The team knows how hard it is to make it to playoffs now and that is still our number one goal next season:   To make it. They have to understand and be willing to work for it,” Murtagh said.

In order to make this goal a reality next year, team members will have to work together, much like they did this past season, Murtagh said. However, she was unable to name any players who stood out in her mind.

“With a team like this it is tough to name names because there were so many players that contributed,” Murtagh said. “I hope that someday we are able to get a championship.”

Many of the players are sad this season is now completed, but they are hopeful for the future, Poland said.

“It sucks that it’s over, but overall we did our best. It was just unfortunate with the last game,” Poland said. “Next year I definitely want to go to the NCAA Tournament. I want to see what it is like and play against the great competition. We played against four ranked teams this year and beat three of them. We can be up there with them, we just have to play consistently throughout the season. I’m hoping that I can help my team to do that so we can make it either next year or the year after.”