Poulakis Propels 'Cats Past Northeastern, 6-2

Friday, September 12

Dedham, Mass.

3 PM

University of New Hampshire

(1-3)

Northeastern

(3-1)

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NORTHEASTERN

Photo by: Meg Rice

9/12/2025 8:15:00 PM | Field Hockey

Box Score

DEDHAM, Mass. – Senior captain Nicole Poulakis (Ajax, Ontario) recorded two goals and two assists to lead the University of New Hampshire field hockey team to Friday afternoon's 6-2 win against Northeastern University at Dedham Field.

Junior captain Kathelijne Knuttel (Groningen, Netherlands) scored two goals while freshmen Emily Coughlin (Marshfield, Mass.) and Marlijn Swaan (Hilversum, Netherlands) both scored a goal. Senior captain Tasmin Cookman (London, England), classmate Brecken Calcari (St. Louis, Mo.) and junior Addison MacNeil (Brentwood, N.H.) each tallied an assist.

Sophomore Abby Johnson (Walpole, Mass.) was credited with six saves and yielded one goal in 48 minutes, 45 seconds to earn the win. Classmate Kerigan Ross (Baltimore, Md.) stopped 1 of 2 shots on goal in 11:15 of action in the fourth quarter.

NU goalie Arabella Loveridge made eight saves. Helen Baldy and Emilia Adragna scored the Huskies' goals.

UP NEXT

UNH returns to action Sept. 14 (12 p.m.) at Providence College.

The Wildcats' next home game is Sept. 21 (1 p.m.) against intrastate rival Dartmouth College for Alumni Day.

COACH'S QUIPS – UNH head coach Robin Balducci
"We really came out great and played quality, fastbreak hockey. We put Northeastern on their heels early on, even if we didn't' score right way."

"It was a matter of getting the cover off the goal cage for us. I'm very pleased with today's game – we had lots of scoring and we were able to control the game."

"Northeastern started to forge a change in tempo in the game in the fourth (quarter), but we came back out and scored two."

FIRST QUARTER

UNH recorded a 4-1 shot advantage and had a 2-1 edge in penalty corners in the opening 15 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER

Following a scoreless first quarter, Knuttel and Coughlin scored goals 42 seconds apart – at 19:24 and 20:06, respectively – to quickly transform a tie game into a two-goal UNH lead.

Johnson had made a pair of saves in the 18^th minute to keep the game deadlocked at zero.

THIRD QUARTER

Poulakis, who set up both second-quarter goals, extended the Wildcats' lead to 3-0 at 33:23.

Knuttel struck again at 40:00 to push the margin to four goals.

FOURTH QUARTER

Ross entered the game in goal at the start of the fourth quarter and NU's Baldy scored at 47:15.
Johnson was reinserted as UNH goalie to face a penalty stroke at 51:49 and Adragna scored to trim the deficit to 4-2.
Ross reentered the game later to defend New Hampshire's cage for the final 4:26
UNH converted a corner into a goal when Swaan scored on a direct shot from the top of the circle to give the 'Cats a 5-2 lead at 56:36. The battery of MacNeil as the push and Cookman as the stick-stop set up the tally.

Poulakis scored her second goal of the game 67 seconds later to reestablish a four-goal lead, 6-2.

UNH NOTEBOOK

Poulakis recorded season highs in goals, assists and points (six).
Knuttel finished with season highs in goals and points (four).
Poulakis, Knuttel and Coughlin are three of the four 'Cats tied atop the team leaderboard with two goals.
Swaan recorded her first career goal and points.

Calcari, Cookman and MacNeil all recorded their first point of the season.

GAME NOTEBOOK

New Hampshire recorded the edge in shots (21-11), shots on goal (14-9) and penalty corners (7-4).

Wildcats for Life returns Sept. 29–Oct. 10
UNH Athletics' annual fall fundraiser is just around the corner, supporting student-athletes across all programs. This year, your impact will go even further thanks to a $35,000 match! Stay tuned for how you can get involved and help fuel the success of our Wildcats.