By Andy MacDougall, News Staff

After nearly a decade of playing at nearby Sweeney Field on the campus of Wentworth Institute of Technology, the Northeastern field hockey team was forced to find a new practice facility and a new home following the conclusion of the 2011 season.

Wentworth announced they would be renovating the AstroTurf playing surface of Sweeney Field to a synthetic FieldTurf, which put the Huskies in need of a nearby field to practice and hold “home” contests. With unwavering support from local schools such as Boston College, Bentley, Harvard, and the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern put together another strong season, clinching its second NCAA berth in as many seasons, while having spent essentially the entire season away from Huntington Avenue.

Thanks to the hard work of the athletic department, members of the alumni community, and members of the university, Northeastern announced last fall they would install a state-of-the-art AstroTurf field within the space of Solomon Track in Dedham, one that rivals the best fields in the country.

The team officially opened the field earlier this month with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and has already found early success in their new home. The Huskies notched a come-from-behind victory during the field’s inaugural regular season contest, as Northeastern began its 2013 campaign with a thrilling, 2-1 overtime win against Monmouth.

Head Coach Cheryl Murtagh, now in her 26th season with the program, was recently asked about the new facilities her team calls home.

Huntington News: You have had this new field for a couple of weeks. You’ve had a couple of games and a couple of practices. How nice is it to have a field to call home?

Cheryl Murtagh: Well, it’s incredible. Today some players asked to go out there early so they can work on their own skills, things that we haven’t been able to do before, and that’s a big one, where they can get individual time when they want it; to have the ability to practice every day on the game surface that we’ll be playing on. We’re a young group, so you want to develop their core skills, their basic skills, and there’s nothing like having the surface to do it on and the time to do it. It’s just really nice to have it when we need it.

HN: You now have your own field where you have your own locker rooms, your own place to put your equipment, and junior captain Caroline Judge said that for the upperclassmen, that was new and exciting for them. Do you think the upperclassmen, and maybe even the underclassmen appreciate their new surroundings after what the team went through last year?

CM: I really do think they appreciate it. I think they appreciate it, and they’re making the best of it, they really are. Sometimes it’s hard to pull them off the field. We have a long way to go this season, but I’m hoping, because of what they’ve been giving, they continue to see that as a huge opportunity, and that we just keep improving because of what we have.

HN: Having been with the team for over 25 years, helping to build a team that has high expectations year-in and year-out, is it exciting for you to have a field that reflects what you and the coaching staff have put into the program?

CM: There are so many people in our program throughout these years that have worked to earn this kind of facility. The alumni, the past coaching staffs, the current staff, the athletic administration. So much hard work has gone into this field, it really is emotional to walk out there and go, ‘Wow, this is ours. We’re finally here.’ It’s rewarding, it’s emotional, and I hope the alumni are able to come back and really enjoy it.