By Tyler Blint-Welsh, news correspondent
After winning its first ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season title last week, the Northeastern field hockey team was defeated by James Madison University (JMU) in the semifinals of the CAA tournament on Friday afternoon.
In addition to the regular season championship win, Thursday night the CAA announced that sophomore forward Emma Lamison, sophomore goalkeeper Becky Garner and sophomore midfielder Natalie Stewart were named to the All-CAA First Team for their play throughout the regular season. Head Coach Cheryl Murtagh was named CAA Coach of the Year.
In Friday’s game, the Huskies lost to JMU, 3-0 in a home game at Dedham Field. In a back-and-forth matchup, the Dukes found a way to capitalize on their opportunities and come away with the win. To start the game, both sides played well on defense. Every time JMU entered the offensive zone, the Huskies immediately collapsed on the ball and cleared it out. When the Huskies attacked, they were met with the same tough defense.
The first goal of the game came 32:35 into the first half off of a penalty corner. On a shot by senior back Dana Allaband, junior back Loes Stijntjes deflected the ball into the net despite an excellent play on the ball by Garner.
The first half ended with the score at 1-0 in JMU’s favor.
To begin the second half, both teams started off with the intense level of defense that they had to begin the match, but Northeastern was still unable to stop JMU from converting its second penalty corner of the afternoon at the 39:13 mark of the second half.
Redshirt junior midfielder Taylor West scored her first goal of the postseason on the corner. In a 2-0 hole, the Huskies began to play with a sense of urgency and generated offensive chances of their own.
In perhaps their best opportunity of the match, Stewart had a one-on-one against the Dukes’ senior goalkeeper Hannah George. Entering the circle with speed, Stewart looked prime to put the ball in the net, but George was able to come out and challenge her, knocking the ball off Stewart’s stick. In what essentially clinched the victory for JMU, junior forward Danni Wilson scored the Dukes’ third goal of the afternoon on a shot set up by Allaband at the 50:47 mark of the second half. Though the Huskies registered nine shots by six different players, they were unable to break through the JMU defense.
In their final game of the season, Lamison led the team with three shots and Garner registered five saves.
Though they won the CAA regular season title, the Huskies did not qualify for the 2014 Division I Field Hockey Championship, ending their 2014 season.
Photo courtesy Zack Williamson, Northeastern Athletics
