By Jason Richland

NORFOLK, Va. – With four minutes left, trailing 3-0, Sarah Eckhoff was barreled over by Old Dominion’s star forward Dana Senenig. She lay crumpled on the turf. As she walked off the field she spat out her mouthguard and burst into tears.

She sat alone on the bench and the trainer placed a towel next to her. Eckhoff stood up and slowly walked towards her teammates on the sideline. Within a minute, she was shouting encouragement and advice to her teammates as time ran out for the 2005 Northeastern field hockey team.

After the game, she broke down again.

“I wish I could’ve done more for my team,” she said through sobs. “My legs just couldn’t go anymore. I hit a wall. I just couldn’t run anymore.”

She wiped back the tears and paused.

“I just wish I could’ve done more for my team.”

She wasn’t the only one who felt that way. It was just that kind of game.

The Huskies rode into Foreman Field as the second seed in the Colonial Athletic Association. Following a 3-2 victory over Hofstra, they stumbled out of Virginia in defeat, 3-0, at the hands of Old Dominion.

There was still hope for the 16th-ranked Huskies, until last night. Only eight at-large bids are issued for the NCAA tournament, and the Huskies did not get one.

Eight conferences get an automatic bid. The Atlantic Coast Conference, which does not have an automatic bid, has five teams ranked ahead of Northeastern. The Big 10 has six teams ranked higher and the Big East has two.

Following the loss, the seniors, Jay Quinn and Lauren Edelmeier, didn’t want to believe the season was over.

“I’m very grateful for every opportunity, but I’m not going to say it’s parting,” Edelmeier said. “They’re a great team, very skilled all around. If we’d stepped up to our full potential we could’ve won.”

Quinn spoke regretfully about the loss.

“We didn’t play our best,” Quinn said. “We could’ve worked a little harder. Defensively we could’ve stepped up stronger. At times we fixed it, but we didn’t fix it quick enough.”

As far as the game was concerned, the Huskies looked flat. Old Dominion outshot them 18-7 and controlled the ball most of the game.

The Lady Monarchs passed crisply and accurately. They were aggressive and relentless, putting goalkeeper Colleen Duffy through the hardest test of her collegiate field hockey career.

The freshman played brilliantly, making eight difficult saves, but she couldn’t hold off ODU forever.

“We sat back. I’m not sure why,” coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “Especially the midfielders, that hurt us. We couldn’t compete with them early in the game. There were key players I thought were going to step it up, but they didn’t. You can’t do that in the tournament.”

The good news is the Huskies return nine of 11 starters. Juniors Eckhoff and Whitney Shean, the current assistant captains, will likely take over the captaincy. Shean, Edelmeier and freshman Ashley Bascetta were named to the all-conference team.

“I thought Ashley Bascetta really stepped it up,” Murtagh said. “Lauren had a great tournament. Whitney Shean, the other day, did awesome. But especially to see Ashley go out after them, that was great.”

Defensively, junior Megan Troxel was aggressive. Offensively, the sophomore platoon of Michaela O’Malley and Stephanie Casper attacked the ball, but in the end had nothing to show for it. O’Malley worked for several good chances, including an opportunity inside the circle. The goalkeeper challenged and managed to make the save on a hard hit. In another instance, the goalkeeper slid into her and stopped the ball before she could bury it.

In Saturday’s game against Hofstra, Shean recorded a hat trick. Duffy made five saves and sophomore Ashley D’Ambra earned an assist on the winning goal.

“Hofstra was a great team. That was a great team. Towards the end of the season they really came along. They were a solid team,” Murtagh said.

Whitney Shean opened up the scoring with a goal at 9:43 in the first, but Hofstra responded with a tally of its own at 11:52. Shean scored again, diving to knock in a rebound at 17:33, but again Hofstra answered with a goal off a corner at 29:34.

Shean finally scored the game-winning goal, tipping in a shot from D’Ambra at 51:35. The Huskies won even though Hofstra outshot NU 11-10 and earned more penalty corners, 6-5.

Late in the second half, tied 2-2, Lauren Edelmeier took away the ball from a streaking Hofstra attacker, potentially saving the game.

“I don’t hold back,” Edelmeier said. “That’s what I tried to do this weekend.”