2002 Schedule/Results
2002 Statistics

Northeastern 2, Vermont 1
Nov. 3, 2002
Parsons Field (Brookline, MA)

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Vermont (4-15-0, 2-6-0)	0	1	1
Northeastern (8-7-4, 4-2-2)	2	0	2

Northeastern clinched its first ever invitation to the America East Women's Soccer Championship on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Vermont. It was the final regular season game for the Huskies who will now travel to Hartford to take on the Hawks Friday at 6 p.m.

NU came out fired up knowing that its postseason chances were on the line. Just 2:28 into the game Liz Dyjak sent a perfect corner kick right in front of the net that freshman Jess Pfeifer headed towards the goal. As Vermont goalie Brooke Fairbanks tried to reposition, sophomore Jen North redirected it with her head and put it into the back of the net.

The Huskies would go up 2-0 just over 13 minutes later when Jill Link crossed the ball in front of the goal to Dyjak who gathered it. Dyjak then blasted one at new UVM goalie Katie Duffy who made a great save, but the ball was deflected right back at Dyjak and she didn't miss her second chance.

"In the first half we did a great job," said NU head coach Ed Matz. "We played with a lot of emotion and energy."

If the Huskies totally dominated the first half then Vermont turned the tables on them in the second. The Catamounts really turned up the pressure after the break and made it a very high paced match. UVM senior Lauren Donagher fired a shot from the left wing in which NU goalie Cynthia Slowik knocked away but the rebound went right to Nikkie Hessney, who proceeded to slid it in at the 52:38 mark.

Vermont had many great opportunities to tie the game in the second but could not capitalize as Slowik came up huge on many occasions. The Catamounts outshot the Huskies 7-3 in the second half.

"Second half they put a lot of pressure on our back players who are all very young," Matz would add.

Slowik ended the match with six saves for the Huskies who are now 4-1-1 in their last six matches. Duffy made five saves for the Catamounts after she replaced Fairbanks at the 13:34 mark due to injury. NU will try and keep its season going Friday as the #4 seed when they take on #1 seed Hartford at 6 p.m. The Hawks won the regular season match 3-0 at Hartford.

Scoring
First Half:
NU - Jen North (Liz Dyjak, Jess Pfeifer) 2:28
NU - Liz Dyjak 15:33

Second Half:
UVM - Nikki Hessney 52:38

Shots
Vermont, 9
Northeastern, 10

Corner Kicks
Vermont, 0
Northeastern, 7

Offsides
Vermont, 4
Northeastern, 2

Fouls
Vermont, 10
Northeastern, 18

Saves
Vermont, Katie Duffy 5
Northeastern, Cynthia Slowik 6