The 10th-ranked Northeastern field hockey team took a pair of crucial games last week, at home against Harvard and on the road on the University of Vermont’s natural grass field, giving the Huskies a full head of steam going into today’s match up against fellow New England power, University of Connecticut. The victories ran Northeastern’s record to 11-4 overall, 2-0 in America East play.
On Wednesday, the Huskies downed the cross-town rival Crimson Tide, the 16th ranked team in the nation, by a 2-1 margin. Mari Creatini’s season point and goal totals continue to inflate, as she tallied a goal and assisted on a Sara Webber strike.
Creatini controls the nation’s top spot in points (54), goals (21), points per game (3.6) and goals per game (1.4) for the fourth week in a row. Captains Leigh Shea (11 assists) and Webber (nine assists) are also nationally ranked, taking the 9th and 15th slots, respectively, in assists.
Creatini notched the game-winner with seven minutes to play in a play that mirrored her OT goal at Boston College earlier this year. The junior forward gathered a pass at the left hand corner of Harvard’s goal, drew it to the middle, beat a defender and fired it past Crimson goalie Katie Zacarian.
The Cambridge bunch pressured NU early in the game, and struck the first blow at 7:26 when Shelley Maasdorp finished a shot off a penalty corner.
The Huskies’ formidable penalty corner unit struck back when Sara Webber pounded home a penalty corner shot with five minutes to go in the half.
“(Sara) has been accurate with her shots all year,” said coach Cheryl Murtagh of her main corner striker. “That one was a rocket, there was some height on it, it was cranked.”
The fact that her team’s defense held down the fort for the remaining half was one of the most positive aspects of the game for Murtagh.
“I saw a lot of good defensive plays in the second half,” Murtagh said. “We won that game because of a good defensive effort at the end.”
The Husky backfield has shown marked improvement, holding opponents to one goal or less in six of the past seven games. That streak has helped Northeastern earn the nation’s 20th rank in goals against average at 1.53.
Northeastern made the trip north to Vermont on Saturday and defeated the Catamounts for the 23rd time in a row.
Playing field hockey on a grass field can be a trying task with simple passes taking on a new dimension as they bounce through the choppy surface.
But the Huskies didn’t lose track of their fundamentals, and came out with a 2-0 victory. Liane Dixon and Jay Quinn scored a goal in the first half and Liane Dixon tallied in the second to give NU all the cushion it would need. Creatini assisted on both goals.
“(a grass surface) makes a big difference, its’s very slow so it neutralizes speed, which affects us because we are a quick team,” Murtagh said. “Our fundamentals were great for being on a grass field, you never know what kind of bounce you are going to get.”
Towing an impressive winning streak and with the benefit of home-field advantage, Murtagh likes her chances in today’s grudge match against 13th-ranked UConn.
“We have been winning with solid defense, that’s what we’ve been pushing for,” she said. “We’ve always had a great offense, now the defense is starting to match it.”
Last season, the Northeastern bounced UConn from the NCAA tournament in the first round after losing a regular season contest in Storrs, Conn.
