Box Score | Postgame interview with Crystal Poland | Postgame interview with Kaela Barker

Junior forward Crystal Poland notched her second hat trick of the season to pace Northeastern past the No. 13 Michigan State Spartans, 5-0, on Monday afternoon at Sweeney Field.

Senior midfielder Kaela Barker and senior forward Annie Clayman also struck for the Huskies, who improve to 4-0 on the season. Junior goalkeeper Lizzie Priest stopped nine shots to earn her second shutout of 2011.

Poland, the CAA preseason Player of the Year, now has nine goals on the season. She also assisted on Clayman's tally to record seven points on the afternoon.

The Huskies opened the scoring just 1:07 into the proceedings. Poland made a steal in the defensive end and rushed towards goal to force a penalty corner. On the ensuing opportunity, junior forward Nicky Graham stopped senior forward Carolyn Malloy's insert, and Poland deposited it past Michigan State (0-4) goalkeeper Molly Cassidy (12 saves). It was Poland's seventh goal of the season, and she has scored first in each game this season.

Northeastern applied constant pressure in the Michigan State defensive zone in the first half. The Huskies earned eight penalty corners, but Cassidy was solid for the Spartans as she made four saves in the opening frame.

Like in the first half, Poland opened the scoring quickly after play began. At the 3:28 mark of the second stanza, she added her second goal of the game when she took a long feed and came in alone on Cassidy, who made the initial save but was unable to stop Poland's second opportunity.

The hat trick became complete at the 49:43 mark of the contest when Poland capitalized on one of the 13 penalty corners NU earned. Malloy and junior midfielder Allison Conti had the helpers.

NU attempted 28 shots throughout the game, while the Husky defense held Michigan State to just 15 shots.

Northeastern returns to action on Friday, Sept. 9, when the Huskies head to the West Coast to battle California. Game time is set for 9 p.m. EST.

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.