By Andy MacDougall, News Staff
It took a veteran’s touch and a little luck, but Northeastern field hockey has made it to the postseason.
Guided by senior forward Lindsay Bennett’s first career hat trick, the Huskies took a 3-2 decision over the College of William & Mary Friday night before being shut out, 2-0, by James Madison University Sunday afternoon.
But more importantly, thanks to a William & Mary overtime victory over Hofstra University on Sunday, Northeastern will head to the University of Delaware this weekend for its fourth-straight appearance in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) postseason tournament.
“[The playoff berth] definitely made the trip home a lot more enjoyable,” Bennett said. “It’s never fun losing, but being in the airport and knowing that we were going to the CAA tournament made the atmosphere more enjoyable. I told the girls they better get their homework done this week because once the weekend comes, the only focus is field hockey.”
The third-seeded Huskies (7-12, 3-3 CAA) will take on second-seeded Drexel University Friday at 7 p.m. Northeastern picked up the victory in its lone meeting with the Tigers this season, taking a 1-0 decision on Oct. 11 when Drexel was the 19th-ranked team in the nation.
Should Northeastern get the best of Drexel again this Friday, they would face the winner of Delaware and William & Mary Sunday at 1 p.m. for the CAA Championship.
“It actually really helps playing a team we’ve played before,” Bennett said. “We know their top players personally, not just from what the coaches tell us. We’ve been trying to focus in practice on team defense and having that defense and energy we had against Drexel last time. It’s do or die, and that’s [a mentality] that will be implemented in warm-ups and throughout the game.”
Northeastern’s playoff chances remained in flux as the team traveled to Virginia for dates with William & Mary and James Madison. A pair of wins would all but secure a playoff berth, but a series of losses could put the Huskies on the outside looking in for the first time since 2009.
Having failed to miss the conference tournament during her three previous years on Huntington Avenue, Bennett put together a career-afternoon against the Tribe. Less than five minutes into Friday’s contest, Bennett cut inside the circle and put home a shot from Caroline Judge for an early 1-0 Husky lead.
Two minutes later, the senior was at it again as she cut right and snuck a shot inside the right post. At 6:29, the Huskies had already built a 2-0 lead.
The Tribe mounted a comeback before halftime as Jesse Ebner and Taylor Gladey tallied goals for William & Mary, but Bennett capped her career day by cleaning up a rebound and rifling home her third score of the day for the game-winner at 56:32.
Bennett entered her senior season with eight goals and 15 assists for 31 points during her collegiate career. With at least one game left in red and black, Bennett has tallied 10 goals and three assists for 23 points on the year.
Northeastern looked to keep its momentum going in the regular season finale against the Dukes of James Madison, but the Huskies fell by a score of 2-0. Taylor West buried a hard shot from the left side, giving the Dukes a 1-0 lead just 15:27 into the contest.
James Madison continued attacking the Northeastern net and was rewarded late in the first as Loes Stijntjes tallied her second of the season with less than a minute left before the break.
The Dukes finished with 29 shots to Northeastern’s eight, and eight penalty corners to the Huskies’ four. Freshman goaltender Becky Garner made 11 saves in net for Northeastern.
As the Huskies prepare to travel to Delaware, coach Cheryl Murtagh knows that the team’s previous success against Drexel is important going into Friday night’s game. Another win against a touted Tiger program has the potential to spark a run for the Huskies, one that could end with Northeastern’s first CAA crown.
“I thought we played very disciplined, good defense against Drexel the first time,” Murtagh said. “We scored first and that was very important. Our goal for this weekend is to play tough defense.
“Drexel is going to be tough defensively, but the kids know they’ve beaten them once already.”
