By Andy MacDougall, News Staff
With lessons learned from the season’s first test against the nationally ranked Wildcats of Northwestern, the Northeastern field hockey team got back to its winning ways this past weekend. With goals from captains Lindsay Bennett and Caroline Judge, Northeastern held on for a 2-1 victory over Providence Sunday afternoon.
“I think coming off the Northwestern game, we were really ready to bounce back from that,” Judge said, who netted her first goal of the season in Sunday’s victory.
“We had a very good week of practice, working hard on pressing and out-letting passes, and I think we did those things much bettering [against Providence].”
The Huskies jumped on top following the game’s first penalty corner. Bennett sent the corner to Emmy Zweserijn at the top of the circle. Zweserijn then rifled a shot on net, and a deflection by Bennett slipped the ball past Providence’s Deidra Clymer to give Northeastern the 1-0 lead.
The goal was Bennett’s first of her senior campaign, and came just 3:42 into the match.
Northeastern would hold the lead for nearly 15 minutes before the Friars found the back of the net. Midway through the first, Providence’s Kasey Bulman sent a long pass into the circle. Streaking up field, Daniella Bernasconi was able to get her stick on the ball, and the deflection found the back of the cage as the Friars pulled the score even at one.
But before the halftime horn, Northeastern would take a lead it would refuse to relinquish. Sophomore forward Leah Edmondson carried the ball along the left side of the circle and passed to an open Judge on the right wing. Judge sent a hard, low shot past Clymer and in the left corner of the goal for a 2-1 lead with just 44 seconds left in the first.
Following the break, the second half was dominated by Northeastern, as the Huskies tallied seven penalty corners in the final frame. Neither team registered a goal in the final 35 minutes, as the Huskies kept the Friars from registering a shot on net.
“I think the team played better defense than we had against Northwestern,” head coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “Our pressure was better. I thought the positioning on the field was better. We were able to construct more. I think that was a big step, just coming together a little bit more.”
Freshman goaltender Becky Garner continued her impressive play in the cage for the Huskies, stopping three of the four shots she faced in the afternoon. Meanwhile, fellow freshman Zweserijn leads the team with five points off two goals and an assists, as she sits fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 1.67 points per game average.
“We knew we had a good freshman class coming in,” Murtagh said. “We knew they would be able to contribute, and it’s great to see them doing that. Graduating eight seniors, we were going to need some freshmen to come in and give us some good minutes, and they’re doing a great job.”
The scoring touch has been spread across the Northeastern lineup, as seven players have notched a point in the season’s first three contests.
The Huskies move to 18-7-2 all-time against the Friars. Prior to Sunday’s match, Northeastern and Providence had alternated wins over the last seven meetings dating back to 2005.
Northeastern returns to the pitch this Friday as they welcome Dartmouth to Solomon Field at 6 p.m. Two days later, the Huskies head north for a 2 p.m. date with New Hampshire.
