Junior Crystal Poland scored her 18th and 19th goals of the season, including the game-winner in overtime, as Northeastern field hockey snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 triumph over James Madison at Sweeney Field.  The Huskies move to 6-5 on the year and 1-2 in CAA play with the win.

Northeastern might have put the game away for good during a first half in which the ball hardly saw their defensive side of the field.  Play remained bottled up in the James Madison end with hardly any letup from the Huskies, but the Dukes' defense remained steadfast amidst an onslaught of Northeastern shots and corners.  The Dukes did not register a single shot or corner in the first half; the Huskies tallied 20 and 8, respectively.

It was Poland who broke through for Northeastern near the half hour mark.  After intercepting a sloppy pass from a JMU defender, the nation's leading scorer walked in on goal and beat keeper Margo Savage to her far post from seven yards out at a difficult angle, and made it 1-0 to Northeastern.

The Dukes finally found something of a foothold in the game during the second half, mostly through repeated runs down the right flank from Taylor Bailey.  Finally, JMU's Rachel Wein, just a minute after coming on, won possession off a long ball upfield and turned the opportunity into a breakaway.  Her shot along the ground beat senior goalkeeper Lizzie Priest, who couldn't get down in time to stop it as it rolled past, and James Madison had equalized against the run of play.

Regulation ended at 1-1 as the offensive opportunities between the teams gradually evened out.  Northeastern outshot the Dukes in the second half, 8-5, and won three penalty corners to the Dukes' one.

Poland nearly ended things for Northeastern just a few minutes into the seven-on-seven overtime.  A botched JMU corner rolled all the way to midfield and gave the Huskies a clear three-on-one break, but Poland's open shot from six yards out on the right wing struck the outside of Savage's right post, and stayed out.

Then, with three minutes to play in the first overtime, Poland found the right formula.  After being dispossessed off an incoming cross, Poland tackled right back and, in one motion, gained possession and launched a wicked backhanded shot over Savage's right shoulder to give Northeastern the win.

Not lost in the drama was the superlative performance from JMU's Savage.  Facing an offensive blitzkrieg all afternoon, Savage stood strong and her defense managed to contain any rebounds that might have found a Northeastern stick.  Overall, Savage made 15 saves on 17 NU shots on goal.

Her counterpart Priest was also strong between the pipes for the Huskies.  After going untested amidst a first half in which JMU did not register a shot, what few shots Priest did see in the second half required her absolute best.  Priest made four saves total, all in the second half, for her sixth win of the season.

The Huskies look to make it two in a row on Sunday, Oct. 2, with a home tilt against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams (3-8, 1-2 CAA) at Sweeney Field.  Game time is 2 p.m.

A replay of this game is available on GoNUxstream. GoNUxstream is free to all viewers and features live and on-demand video and audio broadcasts, as well as live game stats, and is accessible on PC and Mac computers, as well as on iPhones, iPads and Android phones.