(10Jan99)  Sunday afternoon at Matthews, with the sun giving way to
darkness, the Northeastern Huskies stormed the Bulldogs of Yale 9-0.  The
waves of Dutch, oops, Husky attackers swarmed the Elis and were
devastating.
 
As the match began, Northeastern came out with fire and determination.
Yale was skating great and managed to produce some good counterattacks.
The Huskies got the only goal of the period when Jennie Setaro (Lisa
Giovanelli) unleashed a wicked crosscourt wrist shot from the point that
flew into the upper netting.
 
In the second, NU were on song and overwhelmed the Bulldogs with strike
after strike cannonading over the blue line.  Early on Hilary Witt (Jessica
Ferwerda, Kathryn Waldo) stuffed home a rebound at the side of the net when
she was left all alone.  That was quickly followed by a goal from Colleen
Coen (Jaime Totten, Nicole Lewis).  Lewis dug the puck out of the Eli
corner and sent it to Totten at the point.  She drilled a shot on goal that
Coen elegantly drove home.  After that spell, the Huskies went off the boil
and Yale started to make some lovely transition plays.  It was probably the
best spell of hockey as the action was end-to-end.  Late in the second,
Northeastern cranked it up again when Waldo (Kelly Martin, Witt) finished
off an ooh-la-la goal.  The score was made by the perceptive passing of
Martin.  She had cut across the line and waited a moment while Waldo
cruised into position.  Martin then hit the perfect cross-ice backdoor
setup for Waldo to tap in.  Lovely goal!  Right after that strike, NU made it
5-0 when Waldo (Martin, Totten) got credit for a scrum goal.  Yale fans
were convinced it was illegal, and perhaps they were correct.
 
In the final interval, the Huskies swarmed the Yale goal with some
outstanding skating and touch passing.  Some interesting angles were
reemerging within the NU attacking shape.  The Elis were looking bushed.
Beth Claggett (Kathleen Savino) finished off a simple break-in scheme
when she cut to open space and fired the puck in from the right slot.
Giovanelli (Jennifer Santerre, Brooke White) touched in a lovely dish from
Santerre.  Setaro (Witt, Erine Metcalf) got the final poke off a pileup to
make it 8-0.  Witt (Brooke Whitney, Totten) took a nice feed from Whitney
and deked through the Yale defense to conclude the scoring.
 
What Yale does so well is turn and go.  It is a simple technic, but few
coaches can transform skating skills into an attacking edge.  The other Eli
asset is their excellent breakout plays.  They can be pinned down and still
get the puck out of the zone effectively.  Obviously the Bulldogs are not
world-beaters yet, but the improvement is there.  First-year goalie Katie
Hirte used her fast feet to come out and face the shooter well.  Fresher
Andrea Freyer stood her ground and broke up many Husky sorties.  The
Yale woman of the match was sophomore Jane Resor.  She had a great
skating game.  She tidied up at the back and produced some fine
transitions with her telling passes.  The line of first-years Sara Wood and
Emily Hyde along with Sue Barnes moved well as a unit.  Wood hustled all
over the ice.  Overall, the development is there.
 
Northeastern was tearing up the ice today.  Some of the old Husky crisp
passing and inventive movement returned.  The line of Giovanelli, Santerre
and White were motoring.  They sure don't share the same script, so it
could get fascinating if and when they do.  Lewis and Coen came up with
some compelling 1-2's.  Witt was getting open and gunning the puck.  On
the blue line, Ferwerda was driving and making some slick defensive
plays.  Fill-in Martin looked wonderful.  Her defensive skills were strong
and her passing was exquisite.  That kid needs more ice time!  The woman
of the match was Captain Totten.  The senior defender did it all with her
dominating style.  She surged forward with well-timed rushes and was
always back to snuff out any Eli attempts.  Totten is playing exceptional
hockey.  Overall, maybe it is still a good time to play "What's my line?"
 
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 good shooting
 hungerf
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