By Jason Richland
When the field hockey team steps onto Foreman Field in Norfolk, Va., they will be just two games away from a guaranteed bid into the 16-team NCAA field hockey tournament.
The road will not be easy, as the Huskies need to defeat two of the top six Colonial Athletic Association teams, but thanks to a 3-1 victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Friday and Hofstra’s 3-1 defeat of James Madison, NU captured a first-round bye in the conference tourney.
The Huskies will face the winner of Friday’s Hofstra-Towson tilt Saturday at 2:30 p.m. With a victory, the Huskies will face the winner of the James Madison – William ‘ Mary – Old Dominion bracket. The Huskies lost to James Madison 3-2 in overtime Sunday and 3-1 to Old Dominion Oct. 21.
“We are very happy to be in a solid second,” coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “It was very realistic for us to go after the regular season championship. To be in the top two going in is not totally unexpected.”
Whitney Shean and Stephanie Casper scored in the second half against James Madison to bring the game into overtime at 2-2. The sudden-victory overtime was then decided eight minutes in, when Melissa Stefaniak scored her second goal of the game to give JMU the win. NU outshot the Dukes 10-8 in the loss, while the goalies NU’s Colleen Duffy and JMU’s Lori Amico, each recorded three saves.
The team split duties Friday when Webber, Casper and Michaela O’Malley each scored in the first half to give the Huskies an early cushion on their way to a 3-1 win. Duffy made four saves in a win NU had from the start. Heather McCannon scored for Commonwealth in the second half, but it was far too little, too late.
In the tournament, the Huskies will have to play cohesive team defense to succeed. If the Huskies lose in the tournament, their only hope is to get one of the eight at-large tournament bids, an unlikely proposition.
“We, as a team, need to make better defensive decisions,” Murtagh said. “We get anxious instead of forcing mistakes.”
The team views its passing game as its biggest strength. The play of midfielders Ashley Webber and Jay Quinn is crucial to maintaining an aggressive passing attack. Webber recently moved to midfield from forward.
“I think she is a good defender,” Murtagh said of the sophomore. “To have her up at forward could be a waste. It’s something we experimented with. We had a system we liked.”
Webber’s replacements on the forward line, a platoon of sophomores Stephanie Casper and Michaela O’Malley, netted four goals over the weekend. Team leading scorer Whitney Shean added a goal and an assist.
Freshman goalie Colleen Duffy will be an important piece of the playoff run. She replaced the incumbent goalkeeper, sophomore Liz Centofanti, Sept. 16 as the starter and has held a firm grip on the job since.
“I know the team is confident in her,” Murtagh said. “They like hearing her. She is vocal. She does something every game that is a great decision.”
NU’s greatest weakness heading into the tournament appears to be consistency. Although they dominate early, late lapses have cost them games. Most notably, in the loss to Old Dominion, NU allowed three goals in six minutes late in the second half.
“I think we are still searching for the complete game,” Murtagh said. “We need to keep it on and keep pressing teams for 70 minutes.”
