By Jon Litchfield
The Northeastern field hockey team topped Brown University 3-0 on Sunday to improve their record to 9-2 (1-0 America East). NU, ranked 11th nationally, remained perfect at Sweeney Field, improving their home record to 5-0, while dropping the Bears to a 2-6 record.
“I think it was important for us to play well at home after we’ve been away,” said Northeastern head coach Cheryl Murtagh, whose team has gone 3-2 in their last five games, all on the road. They’re last home game was Sept. 18th against the Eagles of Boston College.
Northeastern was led by sophomore Mari Creatini (2 goals), who wasted no time contributing. Her first goal of the day was on the first shot of the game. She took the feed from sophomore Liane Dixon to take a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute of play.
NU dominated for most of the first half. The action stayed on the Brown side of the field, though the Bears defense was able to hold off the Husky efforts, stalling the score at 1-0.
Brown’s Lizzie Buza darted through several Huskies to break up a well-constructed penalty corner. Goalie Kathryn Noe stopped four NU shots to spearhead the NU effort.
After a Brown timeout at the 10-minute mark, the Huskies continued to control the pace of the game, while goalie Kathryn Noe continued to carry the Bears defense on her back. Noe was able to stop a rocket backhander by senior Sarah Broderick, as well as two other NU shots on goal.
Brown’s only offensive efforts in the first half came on two fruitless penalty corners and a few journeys into Husky territory. Any attack was dispatched by the Northeastern defense.
The NU offensive prowl refused to quit. The first half had yet to close when Broderick found a hole in Brown’s defensive armor with two seconds remaining.
“It was a tough goal, but we just stopped playing and it went in,” said Brown head coach Carolan Norris.
Broderick’s goal was assisted by Jay Quinn and upped the score to 2-0 heading into the break. The Huskies outshot the Bears 10-2 in the first half.
Creatini got the second half started the same way as the first, scoring her second goal of the afternoon 1:13 into the period. She netted a pass from senior Fior Arrindell to finish off a penalty corner that she started herself. The shot was the first of the second half and the score was now 3-0.
Following the game, Creatini, who is the team’s season leader with 20 points, credited her teammates for her success.
“Every game is like this, the whole team is contributing and it’s just whoever is in the right place at the right time,” said Creatini.
Northeastern continued to dominate play but the Brown defense was strong enough to hold off the Husky attack, which included four penalty corners. Although the Huskies kept the action in Brown territory, the Bears defense was able to stifle the Husky attempts and held them to four shots.
“Defensively, as a unit, we held up under some pressure,” said Norris. “They’re a top-10 team and they played that way.”
Brown managed to get into NU territory towards the later stages of the game, but the Husky defense only allowed two shots. Brown had one last chance to get on the board with a penalty corner, but NU’s Leigh Shea broke up the play as the clock ran out.
Murtagh said Brown’s record was deceiving and that she expected a close game from the Ivy-league team.
“I think Brown is a good team, their scores have been good. Their record might not be so good but they have played tough,” said Murtagh.
Creatini finished the week with eight points
