Since I’ve been here at Northeastern (I started back in September of 2007), a lot has changed in the Athletics Department. Our fans, in particular are becoming a lot more knowledgeable. Before I got here, if someone asked me what teams were in the Colonial Athletic Association I would’ve been able to name George Mason, VCU, Old Dominion and maybe, if I got lucky, Delaware. Now there is an initiative to inform new students of how we do things here at Northeastern. For example, I’m sure most freshmen have walked on campus this fall knowing that they’ll have to stand on a line to get a ticket when Boston University comes to Matthews this year. But if you’ve stopped by the N-Zone table at the activities fair, you’ve been told to start learning who Blaine Taylor is, and why we need to yell “get off the court!” at him during basketball games.

The volleyball team will start its Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) season following the emotional surge of a two game winning streak. “The last two wins is going to help us with momentum going into the conference,” said Janelle Tucker, freshman outside hitter. The Huskies participated in the The Seton Hall Invitational from Sept. 17 to 18 and kicked off the weekend against Western Michigan. The Huskies got off to a slow start, but were able to make it close before dropping the first set by a score of 25-22. Northeastern kept the momentum going into the second set building a 12-9 lead. That lead disappeared and the Broncos took the second set 25-20. The third set saw an even bigger lead for Northeastern but again the Huskies were unable to hold on, losing 27-25. The loss dropped the Huskies to 0-4 in tournament openers for the season.

Men’s hockey Head Coach Greg Cronin announced his new recruits for the upcoming season June 3. And while there will still be 10 freshman playing in Matthews Arena this fall, one of them wasn’t listed when the announcement was first made. That last recruit is Cody Ferriero, a forward from Essex. Ferriero will wear No. 79 this season. After being selected by the San Jose Sharks in the 5th round (127th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, fans are excited for his arrival.

The women’s soccer team notched its second win in a row in its last non-conference game of the season Friday night against the University of New Hampshire. Senior midfielder Kristen Blake said she credits basic teamwork and a lot of hard work for the team’s win. “We’ve been here since Aug. 5, so I think we finally just all came together as a team,” Blake said. “We got excited about our first Friday night game and we’ve always had a great rivalry with UNH. It’s always been a tough, tough game, we had to get fired up.”

The men’s soccer team wrapped up non-conference play with a 1-0 loss to the Providence Friars at Parsons Field Tuesday night, a defeat that sends the Huskies to 2-4-0 overall as conference play begins Saturday. “You can’t come out flat in any game,” Huskies’ head coach Brian Ainscough said. “We didn’t even come out flat- flat would have been an improvement over how we came out. We were going backwards from the get-go. Typically we don’t come out that slow, but that effort in the first half was painful.”

After battling knee injuries for more than a year, Greta Samuelsdottir is finally coming back to her full potential. The women’s soccer team’s sophomore forward scored three goals in the last two games, netting the game winner in both contests against Lafayette and New Hampshire. Her efforts have earned her Huntington News Player of the Week honors.

After a disappointing loss to Providence Sept. 15, the Huskies came back strong against Harvard University yesterday and beat the Crimson 4-0, bringing their overall record to 4-4. The top scorer of the night was junior forward Carolyn Malloy, who had one goal and one assist, followed by freshman Lindsay Bennett with two assists. Junior midfielder Kaela Barker and sophomores Crystal Poland and Nicky Graham each added a goal.

Outside of fancy media consulting companies or web traffic/analytics services, the "buzz" or "excitement" for a product can be hard to measure. In sports, the most tangible measurement the industry has is gate attendance. If people attend games consistently, then the assumption can be made that fans are excited about what they see. This semester, there haven’t been any men's hockey or men's basketball games, yet it's hard to deny the excitement that's been building for their upcoming seasons.

With the women’s volleyball season underway, senior setter Britney Brown leads the Huskies’ attack. In the past five games, Brown recorded 114 assists, 46 kills and 40 digs. Brown’s efforts have earned her Huntington News Player of the Week honors. Not only does Brown consistently lead the box score, but she also leads the team as one of three captains. She shares the position with seniors and middle hitters Caitlin Tittl and Jillian Robinson. While Brown and the Huskies are focused on hosting the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament and taking home the title, she said she also has her sights set on some personal goals. “I have a certain target I want to reach in the weight room and with my vertical, but I also want to be a leader and a captain that people can rely on,” Brown said.

After a rocky start to the season on the road, the volleyball team came home Tuesday with a home tilt against the University of Connecticut (UConn). Before returning to Solomon Court, Northeastern played 10 games on the road , posting a 7-3 record. Northeastern has struggled out of the gates in matches this season, only winning its first set three times. In sets one and two of the first five matches, they had a record of 2-8.

Though the season is only seven games old, the field hockey team appears to be following the same path it did last season. After dropping their first three contests, the Huskies responded by winning three straight games before losing to Providence College 2-0 yesterday at Sweeney Field. Northeastern’s record now stands at 3-4. The team’s early start to 2010 closely mirrors that of 2009 when the squad dropped its first two games before rebounding to win four straight games.

Riding on two goals from senior midfielder Ryan Burnham and the first career collegiate shutout for goalkeeper Oliver Blum, the men’s soccer team closed the Mayor’s Cup Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Hartwick, the Huskies’ first win of the 2010 season. The Huskies loaded their non-conference schedule with demanding competition in hopes of challenging themselves prior to their Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener Sept. 25 at Virginia Commonwealth (VCU). Northeastern fell in three road games to kick off the campaign – a 2-1 defeat at Georgetown, a 5-0 loss to nationally-ranked Maryland and a 1-0 double overtime loss in the opener of the Mayor’s Cup against Syracuse– before notching a victory against Hartwick.