The rainy conditions this weekend might not have been friendly to bobcats and terriers, but the Huskies showed no ill effects en route to notching a pair of non-conference field hockey wins.
Northeastern (4-2) beat the Quinnipiac Bobcats (0-5) 1-0 in overtime Friday before defeating the No. 18 Boston University Terriers (2-3), 2-1 Sunday.
Northeastern outshot Quinnipiac 22-3 at Sweeney Field Friday, but couldn’t find the net until senior co-captain Ashley Bascetta slipped her second goal of the year past Quinnipiac senior goalie Jenna Grossmann 1:55 into overtime.
The Huskies’ walk-off win came while being down a player, as freshman midfielder Kaela Barker was given a yellow card late in the second half.
Northeastern moved the ball into Quinnipiac territory and earned a pair of penalty corners. On the second corner, sophomore back Anne-Reike Stuhlmann took the entry pass from freshman forward Carolyn Malloy, made a move to the right, then passed it to her left where Bascetta backhanded a shot into the opposite corner of the goal.
“I like that we had so many hard shots during the game that didn’t go in,” head coach Cheryl Murtagh said. “[And then Bascetta] just kind of slipped it toward the goal and it went in. It was really not a strong shot, but she put it on goal so you have a chance to score. I was pretty proud of her for doing it.”
The penalty corner actually broke down, Bascetta said.
“I think at that point we just wanted to put a shot on goal and do whatever it took to score,” she said.
In addition to posting 19 more shots than Quinnipiac, Northeastern had 11 penalty corners to Quinnipiac’s none. Grossman made 10 saves, while Husky senior goalkeeper Colleen Duffy was untested.
While Northeastern dominated Quinnipiac Friday, Sunday’s game at Jack Barry Field started in a deadlock.
Northeastern had a great chance in the 18th minute when the ball was cleared deep into a BU zone void of defenders. However, the Huskies couldn’t push up fast enough to create an opportunity.
The Terriers peppered several shots on goal before the Huskies drew a penalty corner in the 22nd minute. Barker received the entry pass from Malloy near the center of the circle, then passed it to sophomore midfielder Pam Aldridge who shot it from the top left of the circle past Terrier sophomore goalkeeper Kim Kastuk.
The closing minutes of the half saw a scary moment for the Huskies as Malloy went down in obvious pain after stepping on a defender’s foot. She was helped off the field and returned later in the second half.
“She’s tough,” Murtagh said of Malloy, who appeared to be at full speed after returning to the field.
The Terriers had a wide open shot on goal in the 56th minute but Duffy (six saves) came out to kick the ball away.
Northeastern took a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute when sophomore forward Meg Sweeney scored her second goal of the year off a pass from Aldridge, slipping it past the exposed opening behind Kastuk.
The Huskies were once again forced to play down a player when Barker drew a yellow card just 21 seconds after Sweeney’s goal. The Terriers sensed an opportunity and mounted a charge on Northeastern’s zone. Despite redshirt freshman forward Kali Cardoza’s goal with just over a minute left, the Terrier’s frantic charge was too little, too late as NU held on for the win. Northeastern cleared the ball out of its zone to seal the game in the closing seconds.
“It’s been a couple years since we beat BU. I’m really proud of this team, they stepped up with some good goals. Obviously BU came at us pretty hard,” Murtagh said. “We made a mistake at the end on [BU’s] goal. That’s something we can correct; I’m just glad we were up two.”
The win was Northeastern’s first over BU since 2005. The Huskies host Brown at 4 p.m. Sept. 17 at Sweeney Field.
