Junior Lizzie Priest stopped 13 shots, and No. 18 Northeastern jumped out to another early lead and never looked back in defeating Hofstra, 4-2, in the CAA field hockey semifinals. They will face top-seeded No. 2 Old Dominion, who defeated James Madison earlier today.

Senior Pam Aldridge scored twice for the Huskies, with junior Crystal Poland and senior Carolyn Malloy adding markers of their own to put the Northeastern offense over the top in the victory.

Facing the sixth-highest scoring offense in the nation, Northeastern dictated the early tempo and vaulted into the lead through its clockwork penalty corner offense. In the fifth minute, with the Huskies' first sustained pressure of the game, Malloy swung the ball in to junior Nicky Graham, who teed up Poland's nation-leading 27th goal of the season, an elevated shot that beat Amanda Heyde to her left.

The Huskies weren't finished, continuing their season-long trend of scoring early in games. With a stunned Hofstra side having attempted only one shot over the game's first ten minutes, Northeastern was able to sustain the pressure in the offensive end. After the first wave of NU substitutions removed Poland, Malloy and junior Christine Tase, Aldridge demonstrated the Huskies' versatility in attack, sliding one in from five yards out off another setup from Graham to double the Northeastern advantage at 2-0.

Hofstra found a foothold in the game after the ten-minute mark, ripping off the next five shots of the game. The Pride launched 11 shots total in the first half, but their eight on goal were all denied by outstanding play from junior and All-CAA First Team honoree Priest. On 16 minutes Priest made three saves in less than a half minute, denying Genna Kovar before stoning Krizia Layne and Darrah Rachman in rapid succession.

After 23 minutes, Layne's shot may have had Priest beaten but the ever-present senior vice captain Beth Cobby was well-positioned to swat it off the line with her fourth defensive save of the season.

Heyde did well to prevent a rout late on in the first half, blocking Graham's effort and then having the wherewithal to put a pad to Poland's rebound try. The goaltenders were the story of the opening frame; Heyde's six saves kept Hofstra within striking distance, while the Pride may have been frustrated not to score after Priest's eight stops.

If Northeastern had taken its foot off the pedal somewhat as the intermission approached, they certainly kept in their habit off starting a half in full form.  Just 38 seconds after the break, Aldridge added a second to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead, with a blast from the left side that beat Heyde to the far post.

It was the eighth goal of the season for Aldridge, who this week was named to the NFHCA Div. I senior game and the All-CAA Second Team. She continues a brilliant comeback season; Aldridge redshirted in 2010 after an injury ended her junior season in 2009.

A yellow card to Cobby in the 43rd minute breathed momentary life into the Pride. Hofstra put together a sustained offensive sequence over a five minute period, culminating in its first goal. Off a two-pass set piece from a penalty corner, Amy-Lee Levey found Arielle Williams in the middle of the circle to give the Pride a glimmer of hope at 3-1.

But Northeastern needed just three minutes to retaliate. Junior Allison Conti centered the ball in front of net, and Malloy was on hand to tip it past Heyde and put the Huskies out of sight on 55 minutes. The goal was Malloy's third goal this season, but the 23rd point for the winger who has made her mark on Northeastern's potent penalty corner unit.

Right on the back of Malloy's strike, Hofstra star Genna Kovar made her presence felt with a brilliant individual effort, weaving through traffic to score her 28th of the season and set the final score of 4-2. The goal marked the second time this season that Poland and Kovar had exchanged the national scoring lead back and forth on the same field; the two had previously done so in their Oct. 21 regular season matchup, when Poland tied Kovar's tally before Kovar countered to take back the lead. Kovar now leads Poland, 28 to 27.

Hofstra could not capitalize on the goal, and the game petered out in the final minutes as Northeastern maintained possession and saw the game through.

It was another outstanding afternoon for Priest, who stopped 13 Hofstra shots overall, and still has not allowed more than two goals a game in her last ten contests. Over that span she has stopped 63 of 76 shots (.829).

The last team to which Priest allowed more than two is the team Northeastern will face in the CAA Final at 1 p.m. on Sunday. No. 2 Old Dominion, who beat James Madison earlier today in the first semifinal, 6-1, defeated Northeastern by a resounding 6-2 decision on Sept. 25. The top-seeded Lady Monarchs will also have the benefit of home field advantage at the Powhatan Sports Complex in Norfolk, Va., which has hosted the entirety of the tournament.