By Eric Creamer
The Northeastern field hockey team netted a 2-1 victory as they outplayed the New Hampshire Wildcats (11-6, 3-1 America East) Saturday at Sweeney Field.
The Huskies gained some sorely needed momentum entering the home stretch of the season after a heartbreaking conference loss snapped their seven-game winning streak the previous week.
NU broke back into the win column on what was an otherwise miserable day at Sweeney Field. In the heavy rain, NU was still able to control the ball and the game to improve to 14-3 for the season.
“The team realized that we needed to play the way we can,” said coach Cheryl Murtagh. “I liked the way we played despite the weather conditions.”
Senior Maureen Connelly, who is playing with a cast on her hand, said that through the sloppy weather, they played a good game.
“Playing in that was amusing, that’s for sure,” she said. “We’ve played in a few games like that, so we’re used to it. It kind of makes it fun; it adds a new challenge. We were focused and prepared for UNH. We played well defensively, passed well, and we put a lot of pressure on them.”
NU suffered a disappointing loss to conference foe Maine last week, and the Huskies used that as motivation to come out firing against the Wildcats.
“That loss to Maine really inspired us,” Connelly said. “We have a lot of potential, and we wanted to make sure that we played a good mental game. I think we seized the day.”
Murtagh said that the weather changed their style of play, but they were able to adjust well and dominate UNH.
“It was tough to play in that rain,” Murtagh said. “It was hard to get corners and the longer shots. We’re a very quick team and the pace slowed down. We didn’t let it get to us and we kept possession of the ball.”
With the win NU is now ranked seventh in the nation, one of the highest field hockey rankings in Husky history. The win ends their regular season home schedule and caps off an undefeated home record of 9-0.
NU had many opportunities to score in the first half, but the New Hampshire defense did a good job of thwarting their shots. During play, the ball looked as if it were floating across the field in a river of water, but the Huskies kept attacking and hit pay dirt at the end of the first half.
On a corner attempt, the shot was blocked, but junior Sarah Webber found the rebound and put a shot into the net over the goalkeeper’s head to give NU a 1-0 lead at halftime.
The Huskies continued to out-shoot and out-hustle the Wildcats in the second half, and they got the game-winning goal early in the period. Senior Sarah Broderick took a shot from in front of the goal, but it was blocked. Liane Dixon got the rebound and put the ball into the cage for the 2-0 lead.
NU outshot UNH, 17-4, and the Huskies received 13 penalty corners compared to a pair for the Wildcats.
“We have a great team offense,” Murtagh said. “It’s one of the better ones that we’ve had. We were tenacious on defense, we’re good at passing, and this is probably the most skilled team that we’ve had here.”
With one minute remaining, New Hampshire scored on a penalty corner to avoid the shutout.
“The bad thing was allowing that goal at the end,” Connelly said. “We can’t let teams do that.
“We need to finish strong. We’re comfortable where we are right now, and we’re ready to go for our next game.”
NU is tied for first in the conference with Maine and New Hampshire with a 3-1 record. NU plays their last conference game of the year against local rival Boston University Saturday at 1 p.m. The Huskies will head into Terrier territory looking to take a bite out of the 16th-ranked team in the nation.
“Right now we feel that this is playoff time, so we’re going to focus on special situations and our scoring,” Murtagh said. “I’m hoping that we show determination and see this season through. The only thing really left to do is stay consistent.”
