Northeastern University - Cauldron Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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their minds. I think we played as well as we could have, said Coach Cairns af- ter the game. But it just wasn ' t good enough. The villains shut out Northeastern, 3-0. We couldn ' t put the ball in the goal, said the coach. It was a difficult game to lose, we played so hard. But all was not lost. Misses Casey, Eckel, Frizzell, and Kathy Kearney were named as four tour- nament All-Stars to compete in New York with other stars in the Northeast. Miss Casey eventually reached the national finals. Northeastern would up the 1974 season, their best year ever, with a 6-1-2 mark, 8-2-2 including tourna- ment play. It was a strong season, said Coach Cairns. I think we played some excellent hockey. I ' m looking forward to next season since we are only losing two players. Despite the record being somewhat similar to last year ' s, this year was a more exciting year in terms of caliber of play. Being able to field a new of- fense, we met bigger challenges this year — many of which we won, some we lost. The caliber of our opponents is also going up. We developed a friendly rivalry with Springfield and I hope next year we ' re the ones that put the ball in the cage. It ' s been a great, long, hard season. Everybody ' s giv- en everything they had into it. Everybody ' s very tired. It was worth it. Before I came here, said swim- ming and diving coach Diane Will- cox, there was a lack of people out for the team and it wasn ' t too successful. But Coach Willcox has turned the swimmers and divers around. In 1973 they finished with a winning record. And in 1974 Northeastern sent four girls to the EAIAW Swim- ming and Diving Championships. Four women — Jo-Ann Damigella, Susan Gasper, Karen Schultz, and Carol Brown — were the backbone of a team that had gone from rags to riches. The girls opened the 1974 sea- son with a 73-24 win over MIT. Miss Brown led the team with three first place finishes. Boston College, however, put a damper on North- Michelle LaBonte balances herself while trying a new trick on the balance beam. 127

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fivesome. But Coach Hope mainly looked toward four women, three of them repeaters, to provide the flash and special grace needed for a suc- cessful season. Sue Donley, a freshman, has the potential, she said, to go all around (all four events). Miss Buckley, an uneven parallel bars specialist, and Sarah Doolittle on the balance beam were ex- pected to carry most of the load for the experienced women. Heather Glenny had come a long way, ac- cording to Coach Hope, and could go all around if she works hard enough. To realize an 80 average, veter- ans like Claire Haggerty, Joanne Eide, Miss Buckley, and Miss Doo- little would have to nurture and de- velop the freshman potential of Jane Broadhurst, Liz Cogswell, Pam Davis, Patty Healy, and Me- lanie Eide. The success of the team is largely dependent on the dedica- tion of the girls to practice and help each other, said Coach Hope. We have a large team, but every- one will have a chance to com- pete. Lynn Anturi dribbles the basketball downcourt en route to a basket layup and two points. Jo-Ann Damigella prepares to dive into the pool during practice at the Barletta Natatorium. The field hockey team followed the pattern the other sports seem to have taken; so-so for a year or two, then BOOM! The 1971 season saw the women play .500 hockey; in 1972 they had a few more wins than losses. But in 1973, the boom was heard. It was a nice year, said Coach Cairns about her team ' s 7-2-2 slate. I was working with a good group of people for a while. We had been building for a few years and this was the year. And 1974 went even further. The horses were there, the tal- ent was there, said Coach Cairns. It just had to be put together. The women opened their season with a 3-1 thumping of Plymouth State. Cindy Casey ' s two goals sparked Northeastern. Radcliffe and New Hampshire were the team ' s next victims. Miss Casey ' s three goals, each one assisted by passes from Nancy Eckel, were all Northeastern needed in the 6-1 Radcliffe triumph. Miss Casey scored the winning goal with just four minutes to go in the 2-1 squeaker over New Hampshire. Keene State outplayed North- eastern for most of the women ' s next game but Miss Casey popped in a goal late in the second half to salvage a 1-1 tie. Laurie Frizzell scored two goals while Miss Casey had two assists in a 3-1 win over Bridgewater. Now the showdown with undefeated Springfield was set. The first half ended in a score- less tie. And with two minutes to go in the game, it looked like it might end that way. But a Springfield player picked up a loose ball and from an unlikely position fired it home for the game ' s only score. I would have been happy with a tie against this team, said Coach Cairns afterwards. We played a great game, as well as we could have against them. I think we played them even. It wasn ' t out of any superiority on Springfield ' s part. It was just a luck goal that made the difference. Halfback Carol Ruppolli and link (between forward and halfback) Nancy Eckel were standouts for Northeastern. Northeastern then beat UMass, Rhode Island, and warmed up for the EAIAW tourney at Philips Academy in Andover by beating Worcester State. The EAIAW tourney ' s purpose was not to pick the best team through elimination but to select the best individuals who had a shot of making the U.S. Field Hockey team. And winning, of course, cer- tainly didn ' t hurt. Northeastern was pitted against undefeated Middlebury in their first game and came away with a tough 2-1 victory. Miss Casey scored the winner but the girls kidded Pam Traina, who opened the North- eastern scoring by notching the first goal of her career. The women came right back later that afternoon and bopped a 6-2-1 Bates team, 3-0. Miss Frizzell scored two and Miss Casey one in the victory. Then came Springfield. The players had only one thing on 126

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eastern ' s hopes of an undefeated season, handing them their only loss that year with a 107-97 deci- sion at BC. Misses Damigella and Gasper qualified for the EAIAW ' s with times of 1:10.9 in the 100 me- ter Individual Medley. Miss Dam- igella also qualified for the 50 meter breaststroke with a clocking of 30.4. The swimmers then crushed Bos- ton University, 89-23, as North- eastern took first places in nine out of 10 events. Misses Brown, Dam- igella, and Gasper each took two first places while Avis Conley, Cathy Owen, and Linda Dowd added other first place finishes. Two days before the swimmers were to have a rematch with BC, they demolished New Hampshire, 67-37. Miss Damigella won three events and Miss Brown two to pace Northeastern. The women then avenged their only loss by handing the previously undefeated BC Eagles a 64-40 de- feat. Miss Brown, besides winning the 50 and 100 meter freestyles, qualified for the EAIAW ' s with a time of 2:7.9 in the 200 meter frees- tyle. Miss Gasper made her appear- ance as a substitute diver and man- aged a second place. Rhode Island provided a little more competition for Northeastern. The meet went down to the final event before the Huskies prevailed, 64-50. Motivation, said Miss Dam- igella, is a big part of swimming. You have to get up for the meets. We really have to work hard during the week. The hardest event to swim is the 100 meter Individual Medley. You must be talented in four different strokes in that event. The 100 meter fly is the hardest physically, she said. Coach Willcox feels the team ' s biggest asset is its versatility. Many of my swimmers have many events they swim well in, she said. In 1975 the team won its first three but narrowly lost to Brid- gewater by four points. In the Greater Boston Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Champion- ships, Northeastern finished third. A loss to powerful Yale gave the women a 3-2 record. We have a tough schedule ahead, said Coach Willcox, but Deborah Welch and Joann Kus- sman, along with Damigella, Gas- per, and Schultz, have been out- standing for us so far. We hope to have a good season. Things haven ' t gone so well for volleyball coach Sue Snyder. Her 1974 team was supposed to have shown improvement, and led by captains Chris Wyman and Vivian Woo, it looked like it would. And things looked even better when the team won its first two of the sea- son, a dual match at Northeastern. Then the roof fell in. The vol- leyballers proceeded to lose their next 10 matches to wind up a dis- mal 2-10. We really looked like a team out there, said Coach Snyder after the early victories. We ' re off to a good start. I can ' t think of any words to say, said excited co-captain Vivian Woo. I ' m just happy, that ' s all. Patti Goulding practices her tennis serve. A member of the women ' s tennis team, she was among those seeking to reverse the team ' s dismal 1974 record. But like all good things the happi- ness came to an end. After losing their next four, Coach Snyder said, We need to work a little harder but I ' m hopeful we ' ll put it all to- gether. They never did. It ' s getting frustrating for them as well as for me, said Coach Sny- der later. Skill-wise, we are better than almost all the other teams we play. We have to overcome that feeling of losing all the time and if we overcome it and use our skill we can beat almost anyone. After the last torturous game she said, We ' ve had trouble with a lack of confidence all year. We had problems getting the team to work together as a unit. But Coach Snyder is already looking forward to next year. Our squad this year was mostly fresh- men, she said. We have a strong base to work with. The tennis team is five or six years old, said Jeanne Rowlands, and they ' ve had metsa-metsa seasons. In 1973 the team had a winning season but last year flopped to love-six (0-6). The team can com- pete with teams that don ' t go down to Florida, like Boston State, said Miss Rowlands. But against strong teams, especially the women ' s col- leges, they don ' t do to well. Northeastern has produced some good players over the past few years including Patti Goulding, Ann Riggs, Cindy Duxbury, and Jan Bickford. Despite last year ' s winless record, the players were looking optimistically to 1975. Dorett Hope, who reversed the losing tendencies of the gymnastics team, was named coach and many feel she ' ll breathe new life into the tennis team. She already had a pre-season training program for them, including sprints and weights. The softball team, in existence for three years, has played .500 ball over that span. The team split about 35 games over the three years with its New England oppo- nents. Ann Maguire coached the team in 1974 but a decision for a 1975 coach hadn ' t been made in February, 1975 by Athletic Director Jeanne Rowlands. — Michael Coogan 128