STORRS, Conn. – “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” So goes the old saying, and on a frigid Saturday at the University of Connecticut, the Northeastern field hockey team was defeated, 2-1, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It was payback after NU ended UConn’s season last year in the same round of the same tournament.
NU started the game exactly as they would have hoped, when sophomore midfielder Jay Quinn gathered the rebound from an Alli Bolster shot and stuffed it into the net three minutes after the opening whistle.
Bolster was backing up stick-stop Leigh Shea on a penalty corner, and when the ball eluded the senior captain, Bolster pounced on it and ripped a low, hard shot at UConn goalie Maureen Butler. Butler made a nice kick save that sent the rebound right to the stick of Quinn, whose seventh goal of the season put Northeastern up 1-0.
“It was kind of a blur,” said Quinn. “Alli took a great shot and it deflected to me at the stroke mark, I just knocked it in.”
NU seemed to sit back on its haunches after taking the early lead, and UConn took advantage, tying the game at 9:49 when Lauren Henderson tipped a Mary Jo Malone corner shot over goalie Diane Nelson.
“After we scored the first goal, I think we sat back and were being tentative,” said NU coach Cheryl Murtagh. “UConn was able to take advantage of that.”
Less than 10 minutes later, Malone put the host squad ahead for good, scoring on a crossing pass from Laura Puddle.
Northeastern was trying to break the ball out of their zone on the play when an outlet pass was broken up, leading to a UConn odd-man rush and a 2-1 deficit.
The Huntington Eleven mounted a desperate rally at the game’s conclusion, notching five penalty corners in the last 10 minutes and coming inches away from tying the game.
Mari Creatini missed the equalizer with three minutes left when her shot rattled off the side of the net, eliciting a groan from the NU faithful and a gasp of relief from the UConn side.
Seconds later, a knee-high corner shot by Sara Webber was plucked out of the air by a Connecticut defender before it had a chance to reach the sprawling goalie.
“Today [was] a disappointment,” Murtagh said at the post game press conference. “I didn’t know where this team would be; we lost six seniors [from last year’s team]. I knew we’d be decent, but I didn’t think we’d be where we are today. That’s why I’m so proud of these kids, they worked hard and got better every week of the season.”
Indeed, the Huskies have no reason to hang their heads. After losing six starters from last year’s squad and fielding only three seniors (Shea, Webber and Melissa Rowell), the America East Champions completely dominated conference play, out scoring all AE opponents 22-0 in the regular season, and taking their third straight title with a 2-0 win over Maine.
Creatini and Shea took home the America East Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year awards, respectively, and NU placed nine players on the all-conference team. Murtagh was honored with the America East Coach of the Year award for the third time in row, and sixth in her 16-year tenure.
The team also found itself ranked as high as ninth in the country in the season’s closing week. Creatini spent nine straight weeks leading the nation in goals scored, while Shea and Webber finished the season with 13 assists each, good for the No. 14 spot in the country.
“I think we really came together at the end of the season,” said Rowell. “I couldn’t be prouder to say I was a Northeastern field hockey player.”
