Northeastern seniors Maureen Connelly and Sarah Broderick both netted first half goals and the Husky defense took care of the rest, as 10th-ranked host Northeastern recorded its seventh shutout of the season with a 2-0 victory over Fairfield in a non-conference contest at Sweeney Field Sunday afternoon.
The Huskies improved to 12-2 overall, while the Stags dropped to 4-8.
“It was a win,” said NU coach Cheryl Murtagh. “We had some breakdowns defensively, which could have been prevented with some better communication, and made some fundamental mistakes. I think we can play much better than that and we'll need to if we want to continue our success.”
Connelly put NU on the board for good knocking in her own rebound eight minutes into the first half. Connelly collected a pass from Sara Webber and was initially denied by Fairfield keeper Lauren Thomas, but stuck with the play and found the open net.
Scoring first has been the Huskies' trademark all season. Northeastern has scored first in 13 of 14 games this fall and has outscored foes 23-1 before the break.
With the clock winding down before halftime, Broderick took a pass from Webber off a corner play and rocketed a shot off the back of the cage to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
In the second half, the Fairfield defense packed it in, thwarting any NU attempt to score. Connelly and Sophomore Liane Dixon created a couple of scoring opportunities, but couldn't get the ball past Thomas, who made eight saves on the day.
“We should be able to go around them and open up space for ourselves,” Murtagh said. “We did that in the second half, but we just couldn't finish.”
The Stags nearly scored on two occasions, only to have NU senior goalie Emily Roy stone them. With 12:15 left to play, Fairfield intercepted a pass in the Husky zone and had a 2-on-1 break. Lauren Pizzi sent a shot to the corner, but Roy made a sliding kick save to keep the Stags off the board. Then, with five minutes remaining in regulation, Dani Brown fired a shot, but Roy went to the ground again to make the save.
Roy finished with three saves for her fifth shutout of the season. The Huskies outshot the Stags, 20-4, and held a 12-2 penalty corner advantage.
Scoring
First Half:
NU, Maureen Connelly (unassisted) 27:53
NU, Sarah Broderick (Sara Webber) 00:18
Second Half:
No scoring
Shots
Fairfield, 4
Northeastern, 20
Penalty Corners
Fairfield, 2
Northeastern, 12
Saves
Fairfield, Lauren Thomas 8
Northeastern, Emily Roy 3
