By Jason Richland
Sunday marked the beginning of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) season, and early results show all is well for the No. 12th-ranked Northeastern field hockey team.
Towson, Northeastern’s first CAA opponent, stormed into Sweeney Field; but like most comers this season, the Tigers (6-4, 0-1) were swept away 3-1.
Sophomore sensation Ashley Webber netted her team-leading 10th goal of the season. Junior Whitney Shean was named CAA Player of the Week and freshman goalkeeper Colleen Duffy made six saves for her fourth consecutive victory.
“We didn’t test [Duffy] enough,” Towson head coach Lynette Mitzel said. “We were outshot 26-8. The shots we did take [Duffy] handled well. I hope [Northeastern] feels we gave them good competition.”
The first half of the Towson match was certainly good competition. The score was deadlocked at 0-0 until Webber set up Shean for an artful goal at 26:32. Webber fired a pass from the left side to a streaking Webber who reached out and dove to chip a shot past Towson’s diving senior goaltender Christina Armer.
In the second half, the Huskies dominated play, outshooting Towson 15-3. Webber netted an unassisted goal at 40:11 and sophomore Michaela O’Malley added a score at 46:39. Although the offense was aggressive, Towson managed several scoring opportunities on long runs.
“For us to play this sloppy is a bit disappointing,” Northeastern coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “We have to step it up for this conference. We are 8-1 and we have a lot to do.”
One defensive standout was junior Megan Troxel. She hung back and was the last line of defense before Duffy.
“They were aggressive and we let them have a lot of long runs,” Troxel said. “Having [Duffy] back there is great for us. She played really well and she is giving us a lot of confidence.”
Troxel is a key to the Husky defense, a defense that has only been outshot once this season.
“Megan Troxel stepped it up,” Murtagh said. “She really helped us out in the back and Colleen made some great saves. We knew she was going to be great for us. I didn’t know she would be ready this quick.”
Duffy followed up her CAA Rookie of the Week showing with another pair of terrific outings. She fell short of her first career shutout when Towson’s Kim McEwen tipped a Jessica Auge shot just over a sprawling Duffy in front of the net.
“This game was big. We picked it up and showed what we are made of,” Duffy said.
“We have to get momentum going for the next few games. This is a good start.”
The Huskies began the weekend with a 7-1 defeat of former conference rival New Hampshire. Shean dropped a hat trick and Webber netted a pair of scores and an assist against the Wildcats. O’Malley scored her third goal on the season and senior captain Jay Quinn potted a goal and an assist. Webber and Shean are now tied for the team lead in points with 22 each.
The Huskies travel to Providence today to face Brown (3-3, 0-1) at 4 p.m. On Friday, Hofstra (7-2, 0-1) comes to Sweeney Field for a 2:30 p.m. match and the Huskies will travel to Delaware (5-5, 0-1) on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game to round out the pair of conference tests.
“[Hofstra and Delaware] are going to be aggressive,” Murtagh said. “They aren’t going to give us anything, but I am looking forward to what we can do in the next couple of weeks.”
Monday, Shean was named the CAA Player of the Week. This is Shean’s first CAA honor, but the second week in a row that NU has been represented in the conference.
