Mari Creatini scored two goals to lead Northeastern as it eased past Vermont 5-0 in the semifinals of the America East Championship at Sweeney Field on Friday afternoon. Liane Dixon had a goal and an assist, while Fior Arrindell added two assists.
The top-seeded Huskies (16-4) advance on to Sunday's championship game against No. 3 Maine, which defeated No. 2 New Hampshire 4-3 in overtime in the second semifinal Friday. NU, the defending conference champion, wasted little time jumping on the Catamounts as Creatini tipped a penalty-corner blast by Arrindell past UVM goalie Holly Colberg just 7:26 into the game.
Creatini scored again from Arrindell less than four minutes later, and Dixon continued the barrage, rebounding her own shot and then beating Colberg for a 3-0 lead with 12:36 left in the first half.
"We have a lot of different options out of our corner set and today Mari was open so we went to her," said NU head coach Cheryl Murtagh. "It's always nice to jump out to a lead."
NU led 3-0 at intermission, outshooting the Catamounts 17-1 with 12 penalty corners to UVM's one.
The Huskies did have a casualty late in the first half when Maureen Connelly broke her nose. She didn't remain out, however, coming back in the second half to score NU's fourth goal on an assist from Dixon.
"I knew it was broken right away and I got a little dizzy," Connelly said "But I've worked hard in practice every day for the past five years to get our team in the top 10 where we are today. You can either sit out and watch from the sidelines or get back out there and be part of it. I wanted to be part of it."
Jay Quinn tallied the Huskies' final goal on an unassisted play with just 42 seconds left, completing the blowout. NU is now 12-0 in America East semifinal games and 22-0 all-time against Vermont.
"I'm pleased with the outcome," Coach Murtagh said. "Our passing game was good and the execution on our corners was good, but we're going to need to step it up a notch on Sunday."
Scoring:
First Half:
NU, Mari Creatini (Fior Arrindell) 27:34
NU, Mari Creatini (Fior Arrindell) 23:58
NU, Liane Dixon (unassisted) 12:36
Second Half:
NU, Maureen Connelly (Liane Dixon) 10:19
NU, Jay Quinn (unassisted) 0:42
Shots
Vermont, 4
Northeastern, 24
Penalty Corners
Vermont, 1
Northeastern, 18
Saves
Vermont, Holly Colberg 9
Northeastern, Emily Roy 2
