By Andy MacDougall, News Correspondent
As one of the last teams to receive an at-large bid for the NCAA Division 1 Field Hockey Tournament, Northeastern entered their game against the third-seeded University of Connecticut riding the emotional high from the selection show and ready to put on a clinic in Storrs.
In what can only be statistically considered their best performance of the season, Northeastern limited an aggressive UConn front line with suffocating defense and superb goaltending. But after an early goal by freshman forward Deirdre Duke, Connecticut knocked in a goal late in regulation before pouncing on an opportunity deep in the second overtime to send the Huskies in blue to a 2-1 victory over Northeastern.
“We knew that [UConn] had an incredible run of 16 wins and then they had a couple of big losses – but to big teams, Princeton and Syracuse,” head coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “They weren’t the goal-scoring machines that I’ve seen before from UConn. I knew they had a key player in No. 3 [Marie Elena Bolles] that seemed to be a catalyst for them.
“We were prepared for that, and we were prepared for her ability to put the ball in front of the goal, and up until the last goal, I thought we did that fairly well.”
As the alternates were announced for Northeastern, UConn and the rest of the stadium learned that Northeastern senior Crystal Poland would not be starting in the match. The senior, who leaves as the greatest field hockey player in Northeastern history, was unable to play due to a lingering lower-body injury she suffered in the CAA Championship game against Drexel the week prior.
“It was tough, but some things you can’t change,” Poland said of missing her final collegiate game. “You just have to go with the flow. I just stuck to the routine as best I could and tried not to put any attention on the fact that I wasn’t in the game to bring anyone else down.”
With Poland out, the budding Duke took her role in the offense, and capitalized on her increased responsibility early.
Just under 20 minutes into the match, Duke took a feed along the left side from senior forward Nicky Graham and found the back of the net to put the Huskies in red up, 1-0.
The story from then on, however, was the play on Northeastern’s end of the field. Already with two saves under her belt before Duke’s goal, Northeastern senior goalie Lizzie Priest would go on to have one of the greatest games of her career.
By game’s end, Priest had seen 30 shots thrown her way, and saved 14 of the 16 shots thrown on net. The senior also kept UConn from scoring on any of their game-high 14 penalty corners across the course of 90 minutes in net.
Northeastern’s defense was just as determined, turning away each shot that came its way. Following a corner by senior forward Hannah Hoelscher at 47:49, the Huskies in blue would take 12 consecutive shots and six consecutive penalty corners over the next nine minutes. Priest was not fazed, saving six of the shots, including three straight in a matter of seconds, while Northeastern defenders blocked the remaining six shots.
“We know Lizzie is an exceptional goalkeeper,” Murtagh said. “She’s quick, and I think her confidence grew throughout the game. The more shots she had to handle the more determined she became to not let the ball in the net.”
With just under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, UConn tied the game at one. A penalty corner pass from Vicky Arthur was set by Chrissy Davidson and rifled into the net by Louisa Boddy. Priest made three saves late, and her counterpart, Sarah Mansfield, stopped two Northeastern shots in the final three minutes to send the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, Northeastern was unable to get a shot on net, while Priest continued her phenomenal game by making seven saves in the 15-minute overtime. The Huskies in red rotated players in and out frequently to try to keep legs fresh, but the teams moved to a second overtime.
Five minutes into the second overtime, Arthur found a rebound with a clear lane to the net and put home the game-winning goal.
With its loss, Northeastern will be forced to say goodbye to eight seniors, including Poland, Priest, Christine Tase and fellow senior back Allison Conti, but as fans look beyond the 2012 season, there’s a lot to be excited about for next fall.
Junior forward Lindsay Bennett is set to be the only senior on next year’s squad, allowing for many current underclassmen to contribute in greater ways. Duke and sophomore midfielder Caroline Judge have shown they can produce on offense, and young backs Kate Carlson and Zoe Kale played strong this season.
“I think they’ll be great,” Priest said. “I know they have a good bunch coming in for next year. Zoey on defense played a lot of minutes, so I think she’ll be really good back there, and the group coming up that will be juniors, Kelly [Dunn] and all those girls, I think they will have a huge impact on the field.”
For Murtagh, reaching the NCAA tournament is the standard of success each season.
“One of our goals every year is to compete at a national level,” Murtagh said. “Our objective is to always be competitive.”
