Junior Mari Creatini tallied her second hat trick of the season for Northeastern, as the 12th-ranked Huskies rolled to a 6-1 victory over Quinnipiac at Sweeney Field.
Creatini also had two assists in the contest for a career-high eight points. The total was the most for a Husky player since Jackie Carl recorded nine points (four goals, assist) in a 6-1 win over Drexel, Oct. 10, 1999.
"I'm pumped," Creatini said after the match. "I think it's been a total team effort. I just happened to be the last one to put the ball in."
Senior Melissa Rowell added two goals, while senior Sara Webber scored once and assisted on another. Senior Leigh Shea assisted on two goals and junior Alli Bolster recorded her first career assist.
"I think Quinnipiac is a much improved team and we didn't take them lightly," said NU coach Cheryl Murtagh. "We still need to improve defensively and make better decisions in the defensive zone. We're happy though. We scored six good goals. Once we got out passing game going things really opened up and we were able to create opportunities."
Northeastern dominated action throughout the first half, outshooting Quinnipiac 7-1 with all seven shots on net. Bobcat goalie Erin McKay played well, coming up with some point-blank stops.
The Huskies finally got on the scoreboard with 12:06 left before the half. NU capitalized on one of its seven first-half penalty corners, when Rowell blasted a shot from the top of the circle that echoed off the backstop. Shea and Creatini assisted on the play.
Creatini gave NU a 2-0 advantage 10 minutes later with her fourth goal of the season, converting a penalty stroke into the left side of the net.
Although Quinnipiac only had one shot in the first half, the Bobcats made it count. Kristen McCarthy tracked down a loose ball in the Husky zone and crossed it to Danielle Avenoso, who knocked it past NU keeper Diana Nelson with 20 seconds in the first period.
The Huskies came out fired up in the second half and earned three straight corners in the first five minutes. The Bobcats' defense finally cracked on NU's fourth corner of the half. Instead reeling off a shot, Webber, the striker, passed to Bolster, who drew the defense to her before passing back to Webber. Webber calmly collected the pass 10 yards in front of the net and wristed a shot inside the right post nine minutes into the half.
Creatini tallied her second goal of the game six minutes later, tipping in Webber's shot off a penalty corner play with 18:20 left in regulation. The Huskies wasted little time getting on the board again, when Rowell blasted another shot off a corner play for her fifth goal of the season to give NU a commanding 5-1 lead.
With 3:35 left in the game, Creatini wrapped up her hat trick and the game's scoring by redirecting a shot taken by Jay Quinn at the top of the circle.
Northeastern held a 17-2 shot advantage and 16-1 penalty corner advantage.
Quinnipiac Northeastern
Pos. # Player Sh G A Pos. # Player Sh G A
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
G 33 Erin McKay.......... - - - G 77 Diana Nelson........ - - -
B 2 Jill DiSanti........ - - - F 3 Sara Webber......... 4 1 1
B 3 Heather Hamwey...... - - - F 4 Liane Dixon......... 2 - -
F 6 Amy Cunniff......... - - - B 5 Leigh Shea.......... 3 - 2
M 10 Kara Weber.......... - - - F 9 Mari Creatini....... 3 3 2
M 20 Jackie Barton....... - - - F 14 Natalie Singelais... 1 - -
M 21 Eileen Gallagher.... - - - B 15 Melissa Rowell...... 3 2 -
M 22 Jennifer Martha..... - - - B 20 Alli Bolster........ - - 1
B 24 Megan DeCesaris..... - - - B 21 Megan Troxel........ - - -
F 25 Danielle Avenoso.... 2 1 - B 22 Lauren Edelmeier.... - - -
F 44 Meredith Klein...... - - - F 24 Whitney Shean....... - - -
---------- Substitutes ---------- ---------- Substitutes ----------
4 Rachel Slaiciunas... - - - 10 Sarah Eckhoff....... - - -
5 Chelsea Osbrey...... - - - 16 Nicole DePace....... - - -
9 Jaime Cassesse...... - - - 18 Heather Bernstein... - - -
13 Kristen McCarthy.... - - 1 19 Jay Quinn........... 1 - 1
14 Erin Gunn........... - - - 23 Joy Earley.......... - - -
18 Jennifer Lucich..... - - -
31 Jillian Holod....... - - - Totals.............. 17 6 7
Totals.............. 2 1 1
Quinnipiac Northeastern
# Player MIN GA Saves # Player MIN GA Saves
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
33 Erin McKay.......... 70:00 6 9 77 Diana Nelson........ 70:00 1 0
Shots by period 1 2 Tot Saves by period 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Quinnipiac.......... 1 1 - 2 Quinnipiac.......... 5 4 - 9
Northeastern........ 7 10 - 17 Northeastern........ 0 0 - 0
Penalty corners 1 2 Tot Fouls 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Quinnipiac.......... 1 0 - 1 Quinnipiac.......... 0 0 - 0
Northeastern........ 7 9 - 16 Northeastern........ 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL Time Team ## Goal Scorer Assists
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 22:54 NU 15 Melissa Rowell (4) 5 Leigh Shea/9 Mari Creatini
2. 32:53 NU 9 Mari Creatini (5) Penalty shot
3. 34:40 QU 25 Danielle Avenoso (1) 13 Kristen McCarthy
4. 43:46 NU 3 Sara Webber (2) 20 Alli Bolster
5. 51:40 NU 9 Mari Creatini (5) 3 Sara Webber
6. 52:56 NU 15 Melissa Rowell (5) 5 Leigh Shea/9 Mari Creatini
7. 66:25 NU 9 Mari Creatini (6) 19 Jay Quinn
