By Trevor Wenners, News Correspondent
For seniors Greta Samuelsdottir, Bianca Vecchiarello, Sandra Magnusdottir and Megan Penn, Sunday’s 2-0 win over the George Mason University Patriots was the last regular season game at Parsons Field as Huskies.
“It was great to get a win for the seniors,” head coach Tracey Leone said. “They put so much investment into this program and so to [have] their potential last game at Parsons Field be such a memorable experience is great.”
Samuelsdottir’s mother and Magnusdottir’s sister and mother all made the trip from Iceland to be with the girls for their senior day honoring, which was an emotional event for the team.
“It is devastating,” Samuelsdottir, a forward, said of her last home game at Parsons. “[I] get [tears] thinking about it.”
All the seniors saw playing time in this contest with Penn and Vecchiarello coming off the bench to contribute to the victory.
Penn, a goalkeeper, said she was going to miss the chemistry of the team the most.
“On and off the field we are so close,” Penn said. “For the past four years these [have been] my sisters.”
Samuelsdottir’s career at Northeastern has left her in the record books with three games and the CAA tournament left to play: She’s fourth all-time in goals, with 23, and points with 57; her 11 assists is good for fifth all-time.
She is sad to see it coming to an end, she said, but has enjoyed her time spent with the team.
“It has been the most amazing four years and I have learned so much and I will never forget any of it,” Samuelsdottir said.
Leone doesn’t want to see the senior class go, but recognizes the importance of their contributions to the program.
“They provided great leadership for our team and they really get what it is like to be a team,” Leone said. “They came to practice with a smile everyday whether they were playing or not.”
During the senior day contest, the Huskies (7-8, 5-2 CAA) attack was led by redshirt sophomore midfielder Hannah O’Donnell who scored the day’s two goals, raising her season total to four.
The tally came at 13:06 when junior midfielder Hanna Terry took a shot that rang the crossbar and O’Donnell was sitting on the doorstep to put the rebound in. The assist was Terry’s team-leading fifth on the season.
The second goal came early in the second half at 53:02 and was assisted by Magnusdottir (2).
Sophomore goalkeeper Paige Burnett reeled in five saves in the victory to record her fifth shutout of the year. Terry led the team with four shots while the Huskies and Patriots each recorded 10 shots in the contest.
Earlier in the weekend, O’Donnell was the team hero. On Friday night at Parsons Field, the Huskies defeated the Towson Tigers, 2-1, thanks to her second half goal.
Redshirt sophomore forward Devin Griffin put the Huskies on the board at 24:20 for her second goal of the season.
“It was great, everyone was on the same page [and] working together,” Griffin said.
The Tigers (1-12-1, 1-5 CAA) answered back early in the second half when junior forward Emily Barnes netted her second goal of the season, unassisted, at 55:09.
The Huskies did not panic and were able to regain the lead at 61:22 when O’Donnell notched the game winning goal assisted by Griffin.
The Huskies were in control of the tempo throughout the contest which included generating many quality scoring options. They had a balanced attack throughout the contest with Samuelsdottir leading the team with five shots while Terry registered three shots in the match.
Terry has been involved in the flow of the offense throughout the year by generating chances for herself and her teammates. In this contest, she had a good chance at scoring in the 7th minute but her shot was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Erin Quinn of the Tigers. She later set up O’Donnell for a quality chance when the shot unfortunately connected with the crossbar.
“We went into this weekend knowing how important it was,” Samuelsdottir said. “Now we are part of the top teams and we plan to continue that.”
The Huskies continue their conference season on Friday at 7 p.m. at Collefe of William & Mary whose team currently has the same record as the Huskies at 5-2 in the conference. The Huskies currently sit in a tie for fourth place in the CAA, adding extra tension in the remaining three games as only the top six teams make the postseason tournament.
“We are in a zone right now,” Leone said. “We are really rolling and everyone is happy about that.”
