By Danielle Ossher
For the third year in a row, the field hockey team was booted from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament by rival Old Dominion.
With a score of 3-0, the Lady Monarchs ended the Huskies’ season Saturday in the CAA semifinals at Viriginia Beach. Despite the score, Northeastern held its own and put up a fight against the top-seeded team.
“I think the score wasn’t indicative of how we played,” said senior captain and goaltender Liz Centofanti. “Our defense played very, very well against them.”
The Huskies came out strong and held off the ODU offense, keeping the game scoreless for most of the first half with two minutes left before halftime. However, the Monarchs converted on a penalty corner, giving them the 1-0 advantage.
Heading into halftime, Centofanti had already thwarted an ODU breakaway, stepping up against sophomore forward Kathleen Shea and forcing her shot wide of the net.
A surge of offense started the second half for Northeastern, as the team was awarded two penalty corners back-to-back, but was unable to capitalize. ODU junior goaltender Kelly Driscoll made a diving save on the second corner, not allowing the Huskies to get on the board.
The game ended with two Monarch tallies within eight minutes of each other late in the second half. Midfielder Katie Ueberroth converted both the penalty corners awarded to ODU. She scored on the first corner by tipping the ball past Centofanti at the right post, and knocked in the rebound on the second corner.
“Most of the goals in college field hockey are scored in corners, but it just sucks,” Centofanti said about all three goals coming off of corners. “I’d rather if they just scored on legit shots.”
In the match, ODU tallied 13 shots, with Northeastern getting off eight. The Monarchs also had the slight advantage in penalty corners, with six to the Huskies’ five. In her last career game with the Huskies, Centofanti collected seven saves.
The team, seeded No. 4 in the conference, was unable to advance despite winning the quarterfinals match by topping No. 5 seed Towson Thursday.
In that game, Northeastern headed into halftime down 2-1, but came back to take the 3-2 win and extended its season into the semifinals. Unlike in the game against ODU, Northeastern was able to convert on penalty corners against Towson, scoring on two of its 10 corners.
Junior midfielder Ashley Bascetta netted both of the goals off of corners, while freshman forward Emma Boggio scored the game-winner.
The teams played an even game in the stats, both collecting 14 shots and being awarded 10 penalty corners. However, the Huskies ability to create a late game rally proved to be the games’ deciding factor.
Despite this comeback win, the Huskies were not able to bring that momentum with them Saturday, and now look ahead to the following season.
The already young team will part with six seniors: Centofanti, forward Harriet Hoyer, captain and midfielder Ashley D’Ambra, forward Stephanie Casper, captain and forward Ashley Webber and goaltender Meaghan Dorsi.
Despite losing strong players, the younger players who stepped up this season will be an asset to the team next year.
Several players on the team were honored by the CAA after the game Saturday. Sophomore Suzanne Hazelzet was awarded CAA Defensive Player of the Year, a top honor. She is the first player ever to wear a Northeastern uniform to receive this award.
Bascetta and Webber were named to the All-CAA second team, and redshirt freshman forward Meg Sweeney was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team.
This recognition shows that despite the team’s final record, 9-12 (5-5 CAA), the numbers don’t reflect the players’ performances.
“If you look at where we started to where we are now, we really progressed as a team,” Centofanti said. “It was so immense. Our attitude as a team was really awesome. We are all such hard workers.”
