Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In its first slated home contest of 2012, No. 8 Northeastern powered its way past No. 20 William & Mary in front of a crowd of 102 at Harvard's Jordan Field Friday night. The Huskies (7-1, 1-0 CAA) were held scoreless at the half for the first time all season, but goals by Caroline Judge, Crystal Poland and Kate Carlson in the second period gave NU enough room to sneak by the Tribe, 3-2. Senior goalkeeper Lizzie Priest recorded two saves to secure her 39th career win in the Red and Black.

Before the contest, head coach Cheryl Murtagh was honored for her induction into the NFHCA Hall of Fame. The win on Friday gives Murtagh, in her 25th season at the helm of Northeastern, a cool 340 wins as the Huskies' leader, and 357 career wins overall.
 
For the first 17 minutes of the evening's top-20 showdown, neither team could exploit the other's defensive schemes. Each squad had a few breakaway runs at the cage, but solid defense and goaltending on both ends of the pitch resulted in a deadlock. The silence was broken, however, after W&M earned a penalty stroke at 16:51 following a Northeastern high-stick in the circle. Christine Johnson fired the free shot high into the net, just out of Priest's reach. The Tribe continued to hold for 18 more minutes on defense to take their 1-0 lead into the break.
 
But two minutes into the second half, the Huskies found renewed energy when sophomore Caroline Judged notched her second goal of the season, scoring from the center of the circle. NU's defense withstood two Tribe attacks until Crystal Poland rocketed a shot off of a penalty corner from Lindsay Bennett and Nicky Graham at 54:21, giving the Huskies' their first lead of the game.
 
Just six minutes later, sophomore Kate Carlson recorded her first-ever goal as a Husky with a shot into the low right side of the cage. The goal, coming at 60:14, gave NU the first bit of breathing room all game.
 
William & Mary, on the other hand, attempted to force Northeastern into its third consecutive overtime, beginning with Leah Zamesnik's goal at 64:09. After the goal, however, the Tribe ran out of opportunities as the Huskies' defense, which stepped up during the second half and only allowed one penalty corner all game, staved off William & Mary in the waning minutes to hold onto the 3-2 victory.
 
The Huskies outshot the Tribe, 13-4, and had 11 corners to W&M's one.
 
Northeastern moves to 1-0 in the CAA, with Old Dominion waiting for a key conference matchup on Sunday at 1 p.m. The dual, which features a look at the 2011 CAA Championship game, will be held at Boston College's Field Hockey Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass.