The three Northeastern seniors, Melissa Rowell, Leigh Shea and Sara Webber, combined for three goals and five assists to lead the 12th-ranked Huskies to an 8-0 rout of America East rival Albany in their final regular-season game at Sweeney Field on Senior Day Sunday afternoon.
The Huskies improved to 14-5 and 5-0 in America East play and can earn their third straight conference title with a victory against New Hampshire, Sat., Nov. 1, in Durham. The Great Danes fall to 6-11 and 1-3.
Junior Mari Creatini, who leads the nation in scoring, led all scorers with two goals and an assist. She broke the NU single-season points record with her 67th of the season (previously 65) and added to her single-season goals record, which now stands at 27. Webber also had five points with a goal and three assists, while sophomore Jay Quinn (two goals) and Shea (goal, two assists) both had four points.
"We didn't take Albany lightly," said NU coach Cheryl Murtagh. "We wanted to come out and score, especially on our penalty corners, and we met that goal. It was good to see us execute on corners."
Rowell gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead at the 19:05 mark with a blast off a penalty corner that echoed off the backboard of the cage. Shea and Creatini assisted on the play.
Quinn one-timed a pass from classmate Natalie Singelais into the top left corner of the cage to put NU up 2-0 with 6:36 remaining before the break.
Only two minutes later, Leigh Shea knocked in a score from Sara Webber at 4:45 for a 3-0 halftime advantage.
The Huskies dominated the first half, outshooting the Great Danes, 10-1, and holding a 7-0 advantage in penalty corners.
Northeastern continued its dominance in the second half. Creatini scored twice within the first 15 minutes of play to give the Huskies a 5-0 advantage. She tipped in her first off a pass from Webber at 39:20, then fired a running shot from 15-yards out at 55:53.
Less than three minutes later, Webber rocketed a shot into the back of the cage at 58:18. Webber then sent a cross toward the goal, which freshman Whitney Shean knocked out of mid-air for her first collegiate goal at 65:53. Quinn topped off the scoring with a shot that deflected off an Albany defender's stick and sailed over the goalies' head into the cage.
For the game, Northeastern put 29 shots on goal to Albany's one and held a 19-0 penalty-cornder advantage. Junior Diana Nelson made one save for her seventh shutout of the year, while Marisa Maze (17 saves) and Barbara Czaplinski (four saves) made 21 stops for the Great Danes.
Albany (6-11, 1-2 AE) vs. Goals by period 1 2 Tot
Northeastern (14-5, 5-0 AE) -------------------------------
Date: Oct 26, 2003 Attendance: 278 Albany.............. 0 0 - 0
Weather: Northeastern........ 3 5 - 8
Albany Northeastern
Pos # Player Sh G A DS Pos # Player Sh G A DS
----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
G 00 Marisa Maze......... - - - - G 77 Diana Nelson........ - - - -
M 2 Amber Wade.......... - - - - F 3 Sara Webber......... 9 1 3 -
F 7 Lisa Burline........ - - - - F 4 Liane Dixon......... 5 - 1 -
D 8 Rhonda Corcoran..... - - - - B 5 Leigh Shea.......... 1 1 2 -
M 10 Danielle Costello... - - - - F 9 Mari Creatini....... 7 2 1 -
F 11 Kristina Maze....... 2 - - - M 10 Sarah Eckhoff....... 2 - - -
M 12 Amber Greiner....... - - - - B 15 Melissa Rowell...... 4 1 - -
F 13 Amber Morris........ - - - - M 19 Jay Quinn........... 3 2 - -
F 14 Alexis Johnson...... 1 - - - B 20 Alli Bolster........ - - - -
D 17 Kristi Clausi....... - - - - B 21 Megan Troxel........ - - - -
F 23 Tina Bryson......... - - - - B 22 Lauren Edelmeier.... - - - -
---------- Substitutes ---------- ---------- Substitutes ----------
6 Cheryl Varga........ - - - - 14 Natalie Singelais... 2 - 1 -
24 Shelley Gebhardt.... - - - - 16 Nicole DePace....... 1 - - -
28 Jessica Montmarquet. - - - - 18 Heather Bernstein... - - - -
60 Barbara Czaplinski.. - - - - 23 Joy Earley.......... - - - -
Totals.............. 3 0 0 0 24 Whitney Shean....... 2 1 - -
Totals.............. 36 8 8 0
Albany Northeastern
# Player MIN GA Saves # Player MIN GA Saves
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
00 Marisa Maze......... 60:11 6 17 77 Diana Nelson........ 70:00 0 1
60 Barbara Czaplinski.. 9:49 2 4
Shots by period 1 2 Tot Saves by period 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Albany.............. 3 0 - 3 Albany.............. 7 14 - 21
Northeastern........ 14 22 - 36 Northeastern........ 1 0 - 1
Penalty corners 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Albany.............. 0 0 - 0
Northeastern........ 7 12 - 19
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL Time Team Goal Scorer Assists Description
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 19:05 NU Melissa Rowell (7) Leigh Shea; Mari Creatini
2. 28:24 NU Jay Quinn (5) Natalie Singelais
3. 30:15 NU Leigh Shea (3) Sara Webber
4. 39:20 NU Mari Creatini (26) Sara Webber
5. 55:53 NU Mari Creatini (27) Liane Dixon
6. 58:18 NU Sara Webber (7) Unassisted
7. 65:53 NU Whitney Shean (1) Sara Webber
8. 68:33 NU Jay Quinn (6) Leigh Shea
