Northeastern field hockey (3-1, 0-0 CAA) ended its three-game winning streak in a lopsided 6-2 game against the University of New Hampshire (1-3, 0-0 America East).
Sophomore forward Helen Baldy scored the Huskies’ first goal with an assist from freshman midfielder Jessica Garden. Senior forward Emilia Adragna scored during a penalty stroke, and graduate student goalkeeper Arabella Loveridge saved eight balls.
The first quarter passed without goals from either side. Garden inserted for a corner play, and freshman defender Lucy Walton shot but was blocked by the goalie. The Huskies blocked two corner plays by the Wildcats.
In last week’s game against Holy Cross — which the Huskies won 4-2 — Northeastern committed seven fouls that gave the Crusaders penalty corners. Head coach Pam Spuehler said one of her goals for the team going forward was to avoid giving up penalty corners, but the Huskies also handed seven to the Wildcats. Unlike the last game, the competition managed to get the ball past Northeastern defense in one corner shot.
New Hampshire set the tone for the rest of the game, scoring two back-to-back goals to go up 2-0 at the beginning of the second quarter.
Junior midfielder and forward Alex Mega tried to even the score with two shots on goal, but the New Hampshire goalkeeper blocked both. The two teams traded the ball back-and-forth for the rest of the quarter without either making any progress.
The third period was no better for the Huskies as New Hampshire scored its third and fourth goals three and 10 minutes in. Between the goals, Adragna made two shots on New Hampshire’s goal, but they were both blocked.
The score was 4-0 going into the final quarter, but the Huskies showed a renewed determination as they successfully defended a corner penalty shot one minute in. Another minute later, Baldy scored the team’s first goal.
The team kept up the pace by defending against another corner shot. Then, half a minute later, the Huskies earned their second point, this time with a goal by Adragna on a penalty stroke.
Northeastern’s luck lasted for another five minutes. Spuehler swapped out most of the offense and midfield for fresh players, and defense blocked a corner shot.
Spuehler also subbed out the goalkeeper for an extra offensive player in a last-ditch effort to score before the timer ran out.
Then, the Wildcats earned a penalty shot. Unsurprisingly, Northeastern failed to stop the shot without a goalie. The score jumped to 5-2.
Capitalizing on their momentum, the Wildcats scored again just over a minute later in the empty net. After this, Northeastern brought Loveridge back into the game.
Loveridge blocked another shot by the Wildcats with 37 seconds on the clock, but it was too late for Northeastern to come back. The score was sealed at 6-2.
The Huskies will take on the Ohio State University Buckeyes (2-3, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) at home at noon Sept. 14.
