By James Duffy, news correspondent
In just its second Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest on home turf, the Northeastern University (NU) field hockey team extended its losing streak to three games, falling to Hofstra University 3-0 on Friday night.
With the loss, the Huskies’ record dropped to 4-12 overall this season and 1-3 against conference opponents.
Since beating the College of William & Mary in Virginia on Oct. 9, NU has been unable to mark one in the win column and dropped three straight games, scoring just a single goal among them.
The game on Friday featured a strong Hofstra Pride team, who proved to be too much for Northeastern to handle. Hofstra improved its record to 12-4 with the victory. Junior goalkeeper Becky Garner made six saves during the game, increasing her season total to 111. Garner needs just two more stops to break her personal record for saves in a season.
Junior midfielder Alyssa Carlson had a strong night for the Huskies as well. She helped Garner by making a defensive save of her own and stopping the Pride from scoring on an empty net. Senior forward Vanessa Pryor led the attack, tallying two shots with one on net. Pryor was one of five Huskies to notch a shot on goal in the game.
Hofstra sophomore goalie Lauren Saltus posted a shutout, and junior forward Claudia Marin Samper did most of the damage on the Pride’s offense — beating Garner twice.
“I think we do a great job of getting the ball up the field and putting ourselves in positions to score, but we need to do a better job being more deliberate and having stronger possessions in the circle,” junior midfielder Natalie Stewart said of the team’s offensive struggles. Stewart had one shot in the game.
After another tough loss, NU will look ahead to the final weekend of the regular season as it takes on two more CAA rivals.
On Friday, the Huskies will hit the road to take on Towson University and, on Sunday, they will wrap up the season, hosting the University of Delaware at Dedham Field.
“We’re looking to get two strong wins this weekend,” Stewart said. “We have come a long way this season, and I think we have yet to prove that to other teams and this is the weekend to do that.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
