By Jenna Ciccotelli, deputy sports editor
It was shaping up to be a home opener for the books.
Spirits were high ahead of Northeastern field hockey’s first home contest of the 2017 season, as the girls were riding a three-game winning streak that included an 8-1 rout of Bryant University, a 2-1 win over Quinnipiac University and a 2-1 overtime defeat of Providence College during their first week of the season. Back on their own turf Sunday, the Huskies were set to take on the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears at noon.
“We were really excited to play at home,” said assistant captain and junior forward June Curry-Lindahl. “We were on fire for the game. The warmup was good quality. We were hungry to score first, we’re always saying before the game, ‘Attack first, we have to score first.’”
Before the game, the team was finally able to properly celebrate head coach Cheryl Murtagh, who had more reason to rejoice in the bulldozing of Bryant than anyone else. The win, which saw Northeastern’s largest margin of victory since 2006, was Murtagh’s 400th. With this achievement, the 30-year Husky coach became the winningest coach in school history and seventh-most among active Division I field hockey coaches. Murtagh was recognized before the game with a banner that will be displayed at Dedham Field throughout the season.
“I look at my players that over the years played here and I’m just so proud of them and the things that they did while they were here, and the ones that keep working now even today,” Murtagh said of the accomplishment. “I’m just really proud of them and that’s what makes it nice. I don’t look at it as an individual achievement because so many people are involved with that.”
After the playing of the national anthem and a moment of silence honoring late sports information director Jack Grinold, who died in April, the teams took the field for what was an unrelenting first half of play. Northeastern came out ready to fight from the starting whistle, controlling possession for the first minutes of the game, but to no avail.
Berkeley went on to dominate much of the first half, but six saves from redshirt sophomore Julia Ennis, who would notch one more in the second half to record a career-high, kept the Golden Bears off of the board as Northeastern was outshot 13-3 in the first thirty-five minutes of play.
Keeping with the routine developed through the beginning of this season, freshman goalkeeper Julia Gluyas replaced Ennis in net after halftime. The Huskies’ hustled out of the locker room with a similar fire to that of the game’s beginning, gaining possession early in the half. Scoring opportunities were abundant as Berkeley forced a penalty corner and a penalty stroke, followed by two more corners—but still, Northeastern struggled to get on the board.
“They were focused,” Murtagh said. “Nothing had changed, we were sticking to our game plan. We just had to do it better.”
Berkeley was quick to match the Huskies’ energy once again, forcing possession away from the Red and Black time and time again. In the 49th minute, Golden Bears freshman forward Megan Rodgers drove a shot from just inside the scoring circle. The ball sailed past Gluyas, putting Berkeley on the board.
Rodgers remained relentless—just 75 seconds after her initial goal, she nailed a backhand shot from the right side of the net to put the Golden Bears up by two. The goal was her seventh in six career appearances.
Murtagh called a timeout, substituting Ennis for Gluyas. The brief rest period was the burst of energy the Huskies needed desperately, evidenced by the immediate difference in their sense of urgency on the field. Six minutes after the timeout, Curry-Lindahl caught a pass from freshman forward Camille O’Conor and discreetly rolled it over the goal line to give Northeastern its first goal of the home season and cut the meeting’s deficit to one. The goal was the sole point allowed by sophomore goalkeeper Danielle Mentink, who had 12 saves on the day.
Curry-Lindahl’s goal was her fifth of the season, moving her ahead of redshirt senior forward and captain Jamie Bartucca on the list of team scoring leaders by one. She also leads the squad in assists with four.
A strong battle between the teams—Berkeley trying desperately to notch an insurance goal and Northeastern pushing to force overtime, if not a win—lasted the majority of the second half, with constant back-and-forth possession. Murtagh pulled Ennis from the net to add an extra defender with three minutes remaining, but the effort proved fruitless and Berkeley stole the home opener 2-1.
The Huskies fell to 3-2 on the season in their first loss to the Bears since 2002. They will keep up the home stand going through the weekend, facing Harvard on Friday and Brown on Sunday.
“We have to keep getting better at the things that we do well,” Murtagh said. “We are a good pressing team, we can finish.”
