Game Notes • William & Mary: Live Video | Live Stats • Old Dominion: Live Video | Live Stats • 2012 Digital Media Guide

BOSTON – No. 8 Northeastern has waited nearly a month to play a scheduled home contest, and Friday brings with it not only the first game in the greater Boston area, but also the start of conference action. NU is set to host two ranked CAA foes this weekend when No. 20 William & Mary and No. 9 Old Dominion make their way to The Hub. The Huskies welcome the Tribe to Cambridge's Jordan Field at 7 p.m. on Friday, before turning around to face the reigning CAA champions Lady Monarchs at 1 p.m. Sunday at Field Hockey Field in Chestnut Hill.
 
Northeastern students are encouraged to support the field hockey team by riding a shuttle destined for each venue from Chicken Lou's 90 minutes prior to each game. On Sunday against Old Dominion, there will be free pizza for all NU students riding the shuttles to the game. Northeastern SAAC has encouraged all fans in attendance at Sunday's game to wear black for a “Blackout.”
 
Last Time Out
After being used to finishing off opponents early and often, the Huskies were twice forced to overtime this past weekend, with mixed results. On Friday in Amherst, UMass fought its way back to tie the game at 3-3 with 0:58 left on the board, but freshman Deirdre Duke's shot at 76:56 was deflected into the cage, securing the Huskies' sixth win of the season.
 
But Sunday in Durham, N.H., was another story. Duke had scored twice for Northeastern, but the Wildcats, who held NU forward Crystal Poland scoreless for the first time this season, capitalized on the long contest and netted the game winner at 87:29 to hand the Huskies their first loss of the season.

History's at Hand
A few Huskies are closing in on making an impact in the Northeastern record books this season. With her 63 goals and 143 points, forward Crystal Poland is a mere four goals and 19 points from tying the school's record for career goals and career points scored. Mari Creatini (2001-04) currently holds both achievements (Denise Nasca [1992-95] also has 67 goals to her name).

Senior netminder Lizzie Priest is now No. 4 all-time in career wins with her 38, just three shy of third place. Her 4759:52 spent in the cage comes in as the third-highest total in Northeastern history, just 103:00 shy of second-place (Kathleen Madaus, 1998-01).

Forward Nicky Graham is currently sitting at 27 career assists, just two shy of jumping to 10th place all-time at Northeastern. The senior is looking to repeat on her strong showing from last year, when she tallied 18 helpers, most in the conference that season and fifth most all-time at NU.

All-CAA, All the Time
Prior to the season's start, CAA coaches selected senior Crystal Poland as the Colonial Athletic Association's Preseason Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Senior goalkeeper Lizzie Priest joined Poland on the preseason All-CAA team, selected as the conference's best netminder. Both Poland (13g, 2a) and Priest (42 saves) are having more than respectable starts.

To add to the laurels, Deirdre Duke was named the season's first CAA Rookie of the Week (8/28) after her showing against Louisville and Northwestern, and earned the honor again after the Huskies beat Virginia and Michigan State (9/11). The freshman has five goals this season, three of which are game-winners.

Poland was named as the CAA Co-Player of the Week (9/4) after her three-goal performance against Dartmouth and once again on Sept. 11 after yet another hat trick against Michigan State.
 
Watching & Minding the Tribe
William & Mary comes into the weekend ranked No. 20 in the nation, the program's highest mark since 2006. The Tribe (7-1, 0-0 CAA) have won their last two games since suffering their only loss of the season to Virginia (2-0). W&M shutout Boston University, 1-0, and then defeated Miami (Ohio), 2-1, both at home.
 
The Tribe are led on offense by the senior duo of Christine Johnson (5g, 2a) and Allison Moran (4g, 3a). In the cage, both Elizabeth Frey and Catherine Johnson have split nearly even time, accumulating 32 saves together, compared to just eight goals allowed.
 
Northeastern is 7-5 all-time against William & Mary, including a loss last year in Williamsburg, 4-3, in the CAA regular-season opener.
 
A New Look at Old Dominion
This season, because of a move to Conference USA next year, Old Dominion (4-3, 0-0 CAA) is ineligible for the CAA tournament, leaving this clash between the Lady Monarchs and Huskies as potentially the last for some time.
 
Though ODU has suffered three losses on the year so far, those three blemishes came at the hands of then-No. 9 Penn State, then-No. 8 Virginia and then-No. 1 North Carolina, by a combined five goals. Rosario Villagra leads the Lady Monarchs on offense, notching 11 points (4g, 3a), while Sarah Breen follows close behind with her four goals and an assist for nine points. Like William & Mary, Old Dominion splits time between two netminders in Marla Petriello and Friederike Jahns, who have recorded 14 and 11 saves, respectively.
 
Northeastern is 2-22-1 against Old Dominion since the two first started playing. The Huskies are looking for their first win over the Lady Monarchs in 14 years.

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