Northeastern claimed a 2-1 win over No. Boston University at Jack Barry Field today. The action took place mostly in the midfield for the early portion of the first half, with neither team able to create a scoring opportunity in the game's first ten minutes.
Boston University took the game's first shots on goal on a series of penalty corners 15 minutes into the period. Colleen Duffy made two saves to keep the Terriers off the board. BU kept the pressure on the Northeastern defense, keeping the ball pinned in the Northeastern end. Jillian Wilkes and Anne-Reike Stuhlmann executed crisp passing to clear the ball to the midfield and end the threat.
Forwards Katie Ruth and Carolyn Malloy applied aggressive pressure to the BU defense when the Huskies were able to advance the ball towards the BU net, and Ruth was rewarded with a steal in BU territory. She found Ashley Bascetta with a pass, but Bascetta's shot went wide.
The Huskies scored the game's first goal off a penalty corner midway through the period. Malloy sent the ball into play, and Pam Aldridge, Ashley Bascetta and Kaela Barker strung together a series of crisp short passes that found Pam Aldridge free on the left side of the circle. Aldridge lifted a shot into the left side of the net to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead against the run of play and in spite of BU's edge in posession and shots.
Both teams struggled to generate offensive opportunities, with each teams' midfield units disrupting posession and denying easy passes. The Huskies earned a penalty corner late in the period, but Pam Aldridge's shot was saved by BU goalkeeper Kim Kastuk.
The Huskies suffered a scare in the last five minutes of the period when Malloy fell to the ground injured. Malloy was helped off, but would return to the game in the second half.
Katie Ruth, Meg Sweeney, Pam Aldridge and Ashley Bascetta did the majority of the attacking for the Huskies after Malloy left the game, and earned a late penatly corner. The Huskies were unable to convert, and the lead at halftime remained 1-0.
The Terriers almost tied the game early in the second half when a pass found Giovanna Monaco open in front of goal, but Duffy made a point-blank save, and the Husky defense was able to clear the ball.
Boston University pushed several players forward in the second half and put heavy pressure on Northeastern's defensive unit. BU was able to send the ball to open forwards in the circle to on a number of occasions, but the Husky defense quickly collapsed on the ball and denied the Terrier offense.
Northeastern almost created a second goal when Meg Sweeney redirected Jillian Wilkes' clearance to lead an open Malloy into space in BU territory. Malloy carried the ball into the circle, and found Ashley Bascetta on the left side of the circle, but her shot was blocked by a BU defender.
The Huskies extended their lead with 9:36 left in the game. Pam Aldridge sent the ball into the circle off a restart, and Meg Sweeney redirected it into the far corner to put the Huskies up two with less than ten minutes to play.
Kaela Barker was given a yellow card with nine minutes left to play, which left the Huskies a player short for five minutes. The Huskies were able to posess the bal and keep it pinned in BU territory while playing ten-on-eleven, and did not allow a scoring opportunity during the five minutes.
BU's Kali Cardoza got the Terriers on the board with 1:08 left in the game, scoring a rebound after a Duffy save. The goal gave the Terriers life, but left them without enough time to find the equalizer, and Northeastern closed out the game for the 2-1 win.
"It's been a couple of years since we've beat B.U.," head coach Cheryl Murtagh commented after the game. "They came at us hard like we knew they would, but I thought we did a great job and really hung with our game plan. Whether it was Pam Aldridge, Ashley Bascetta or Meg Sweeney, I thought several players stepped up and did good things to help us win."
The win is Northeastern's first over a ranked opponent in 2008.
The Huskies return to Sweeney Field Wednesday, Sept 17 to host Brown.
Northeastern Field Hockey 2008
Northeastern vs #18 Boston University (Sep 14, 2008 at Cambridge, Mass.)
Northeastern (4-2) vs. Goals by period 1 2 Tot
Boston University (2-3) -------------------------------
Date: Sep 14, 2008 Attendance: 127 Northeastern........ 1 1 - 2
Weather: cloudy, 70 Boston University... 0 1 - 1
Northeastern Boston University
Pos # Player Sh SOG G A DS Pos # Player Sh SOG G A DS
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
GK 77 Duffy, Colleen...... - - - - - GK 55 Kastuk, Kim......... - - - - -
3 Sweeney, Meg........ 1 1 1 - - 3 Dolce, Allie........ - - - - -
4 Griffin, Bridget.... - - - - - 5 Cardoza, Kali....... 1 1 1 - -
6 Barker, Kaela....... - - - 1 - 6 Hajjar, Gabby....... - - - - -
7 Bascetta, Ashley.... 1 - - - - 11 Kelly, Paige........ - - - - -
11 Malloy, Carolyn..... 2 1 - - - 14 Wiles, Holly........ 2 2 - - -
14 Aldridge, Pam....... 2 2 1 1 - 15 Ross, Hayly......... - - - - -
16 Wilkes, Jillian..... - - - - - 17 Berry, Sheena....... 1 1 - - -
17 Clayman, Annie...... 1 - - - - 18 Perreault, Lizzie... - - - - -
19 Stuhlmann, Anne-Rei. - - - - - 19 Robinson, Haley..... 1 - - - -
21 Hewlett, Montana.... - - - - - 20 Stuart, Maryette.... - - - - -
---------- Substitutes ---------- ---------- Substitutes ----------
24 Ruth, Katie......... - - - - - 1 Murphy, Kate........ 3 2 - - -
26 Cobby, Beth......... - - - - - 4 Allosso, Kiley...... 1 - - - -
Totals.............. 7 4 2 2 0 8 Monaco, Giovanna.... 1 1 - - -
Totals.............. 10 7 1 0 0
Northeastern Boston University
# Player MIN GA Saves # Player MIN GA Saves
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
77 Duffy, Colleen...... 70:00 1 6 55 Kastuk, Kim......... 70:00 2 2
Shots by period 1 2 Tot Saves by period 1 2 Tot
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Northeastern........ 5 2 - 7 Northeastern........ 3 3 - 6
Boston University... 3 7 - 10 Boston University... 2 0 - 2
Penalty corners 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Northeastern........ 4 1 - 5
Boston University... 3 2 - 5
SCORING SUMMARY:
GOAL Time Team Goal Scorer Assists
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. 21:10 NU Aldridge, Pam (2) Barker, Kaela
2. 60:24 NU Sweeney, Meg (2) Aldridge, Pam
3. 68:52 BU Cardoza, Kali (2) Unassisted
PLAYER CARDS:
YC-NU #6 (60:45)
Offsides: Northeastern 0, Boston University 0.
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