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BOLDEN BRACE Little flash, all substance: How guard Bolden Brace was quietly the best player on the floor

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Last April, we published the first issue of the Red & Black online. We got amazing feedback from athletes, students, and administration, and we couldn’t wait to get started on this second issue.

We’re excited to be back, and we’re even more excited to be in print for the first time. There are 750 copies of the first physical issue of the Red & Black, with 40 pages of content about and by members of our volleyball, swimming and diving, soccer, field hockey, rowing, baseball, and basketball teams. And still, there’s even more online at nuredandblack.com In our second semester, we grew our staff, increased the scope of our content, and figured out that if we were on top of our work, we wouldn’t have to spend over 24 consecutive hours designing the night before we had to send this out to the printer. We might have had a little help from time zones, since somehow our magical miracle-working chief of design Isaac Milley put this magazine together from Spain, where he’s been studying abroad. There aren’t enough words to be said about him or anyone else that contributes to this magazine - we could probably fill another 40 pages just talking about them. We’ll let their work speak for itself.

In our first-ever letter from the editors, we said that if we could fill one more seat or add one more cheer to the crowd, then we’ve done our job. That’s what has been driving us all summer, all semester to put this out. We’ve filled more seats, added more cheers, but the job’s not done. Never will be.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you at the game.

STAFF Editors in Chief Jenna Ciccotelli Jake Sauberman Chief of Design Isaac Milley Photo Director Brian Bae Student-Athlete LiasIon Adam Gostomelsky Contributing Writers Sara Corey Gabrielle Eyl Brian Fields Gabriella Gil Mackenzie Hagist Jacob Horowitz Elizabeth Klemm Gerardo Milano Hannah Rosenblatt Mel Weber Photographers Megan Barrett Leila Habib Audrey Lee Alex Melagrano Riley Robinson Faculty Advisor Charles Fountain The Red & Black would also like to thank Jim Pierce and Northeastern Athletics for their support.

PHOTOGRAPH (RIGHT) BY BRIAN BAE

JANUARY 2019 SECOND EDITION

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3 NO BREATHING

19 YEAR ON THE SIDELINES

5 CAPTAIN FROM THE DEPTHS

21 THE GAME CHANGER

7 OVER IN AN INSTANT

27 BETWEEN THE POSTS

8 TEAM OVER RECORDS

29 todo sacrificio tiene su recompensa

9 ART OF SERVING

30 ALWAYS MORE TO SCORE

11 SHAVING SECONDS

31 MANY LANGUAGES, ONE TEAM

13 UNITED FOR SILVER

33 ALWAYS A MADDOG

14 OWNING IT

37 GOOD NERVES

15 BACK TO CLASS

39 NEW DAY JOB

Zero breaths was the right number for Megan Clark to become the first swimmer in program history to qualify for NCAA Championships.

The bar may not have been set high for swimmer Carly Schnabel, but that didn’t stop her from blowing past it.

Mackenzie Hagist describes the preparation and technique of a proper dive.

Gabrielle Eyl explains why she’s chasing team success over the program’s dig record.

Coach Ken Nichols says it’s the most important part of a volleyball game. Sherrie Wang and Clare Lund tell us why.

Coxswain Sara Corey takes us inside the boat during the 2018 Head of the Charles Regatta.

Rower Madison Mailey helped lead the Canadian national team to a furious comeback and a silver medal.

As a track and field athlete at Northeastern, Tramaine Shaw never imagined she’d be coaching the Huskies...or the success she would have doing it.

What happens when you have four years of NCAA eligibility at a five-year school? Four fifth-years let us in on the secrets.

Katie Rolfe, Sam Bodo and Harry Swartz had different reasons for their redshirt years but the same desire to help their team even while sitting out.

An unselfish lights-out shooter, guard Bolden Brace subtly dominated every area of the game for the Huskies.

Natalie Nidetch and Noah Abrams had different paths to arrive between the posts at Parsons.

Senior Gerardo Milano pays homage to his humble beginnings and the program that gave him a chance.

Hannah Rosenblatt might have completed her four years on the women’s soccer team, but she says she’s not done. That’s just not who she is.

Eight members of the men’s soccer team left their home country to play college soccer for the Huskies.

Gabriella Gil joined the rugby team after returning from NU.in and watched a social family turn into a competitive one.

Before setting foot in a Northeastern classroom, Elizabeth Klemm represented the Huskies at the US Collegiate Figure Skating Championships.

Two Huskies accomplished their lifelong dream as Max Burt and Charlie McConnell got the call to the Show.

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For 22.29 seconds in February, third year swimmer Megan Clark held her breath, hoping to become the first Northeastern swimmer to ever qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Her efforts were good enough to make the cut. For the first time since 2004, Northeastern would have an athlete at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

“I definitely wasn’t thinking of it at all in the beginning of the season, and then with just how my swims went at Chance we thought that I was close to going so that’s why we went to the last Chance meet,” Clark said.

At this last Chance meet, Clark’s time in the 50Y Freestyle event dropped 0.11 seconds to 22.29 seconds to make the cut. Her breath control was integral to this drop.

“My 50 race I did that got me into NCAAs, I didn’t breathe,” Clark said.

This was the first time Clark had done this in competition.

“You could go from 50th to 20th with a tenth of a second,” Clark said.

To qualify for the NCAA Championships, Clark had to swim in a series of Chance Meets and make certain cut times. There is an A cut and a B cut, head coach Roy Coates explained. A swimmer who is under the A cut time is guaranteed to qualify for the NCAA championships, but only about half a dozen people in the nation make this time. Due to event qualifying caps around 30, only a couple dozen swimmers within the B cut time range for each event will qualify.

“It comes down to the last day,” Coates said. “It’s a moving target so even though she swam really fast we

had to fly out to Ohio [for the last Chance Meet] to see if she could swim a little bit faster because of that moving target.”

Coates and Clark credit additional strength and technique training as well as an improved work ethic to Clark’s monumental success last season.

She lifted three days a week as well as utilized buckets for resistance training. Additionally, Clark focused on her starts and breath control.

While these methods helped her improve, Coates believes her improved work ethic from her freshman season propelled her results the most.

“I think the biggest difference last year from freshman year was for whatever the reason, she became one of the hardest, most dedicated, disciplined workers on the team,” Coates said.

NO BREATHING By: Elizabeth Klemm PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

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“Swimming is a tough sport and having someone like Megan Clark makes it easier to get through,” said teammate and fellow third-year Sarah Schelsinger. “Practices are tough and the sets are tough, but having a friend and a teammate like Megan Clark makes the two and half hours go by real fast.”

Clark says not having her teammates by her side at the NCAA championships, where she competed in the 50Y, 100Y and 200Y Freestyle events, was a strange experience, as was not making finals due to the high caliber of athletes.

“Everyone there, their times are so close and everyone went through the same process to get in and it was very exciting and everyone’s happy to be there and it was really like the destination meet of all destination meets,”

Clark said. “There was nowhere really to go so it was just put your best effort into the pool and do your best.”Clark credits the NCAA Championships and the past season as a whole for giving her more confidence in her racing. She plans to take that confidence into this season.

“I’m more confident in my races and my race strategies and what I’m able to do and I definitely will hold myself more accountable for things that I do,” Clark said. “Especially, when Chance [meets] comes around, I’ll have higher goals than I did last year and higher expectations.”Those goals include returning to the NCAA Championships and improving on her performances as well as qualifying for the US Olympic Trials.

Despite Olympic competition being held in 50 meters and collegiate

meets being held in 25 yards, Coates and Clark believe this is a realistic goal.

Her experience in long course meets is limited to training trips and one meet in high school.

“Just from times that I go off the blocks during training trip, I definitely have been close to it considering that it was during practice and I wasn’t tapered and all of those different things,” Clark said.

Her first opportunity to qualify for the US Olympic Trials is Nov. 28 at the US Winter National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. She will be joined there with at least two other Northeastern swimmers, sophomores Klara Juliusson and Matilda Weiler, and the confidence she gained last season.

“Now I know what is possible,” Clark said.

Every younger sibling, at one point in her life, has done something just like her older sibling. Whether it’s the product of an internal desire to follow in her footsteps or the result of a willingness to alleviate the pressures of a busy schedule, siblings will engage in similar activities for one reason or another.

For senior swimmer Carly Schnabel, a combination of both led her to the water. A softball player and ballet dancer growing up, she made the transition to the pool to follow in the footsteps of her older sister. Friendly competition and sibling rivalry served as a primary motivator for Schnabel, using her sister as the mark to strive towards in all athletic pursuits.

“She was an amazing swimmer,” Schnabel recalled. “But I kept doing it while she was doing it until I actually started making my own progress.”

Schnabel quietly developed into a college-level athlete with the potential to be a back-end talent for a Division I program.

She chose Northeastern because of its proximity to home – Wrentham, Mass., 30 miles south – and because she believed it would give her room to grow.

“We recruited her kind of more of a depth person rather

than a starter or someone in a starring role,” recalled head coach Roy Coates.

Schnabel was the first to admit that outside expectations regarding her performance were tempered upon arrival.

“I was a backstroker who would be lucky just to make the conference roster,” she remembered. “I knew if I worked really hard, I had the potential to be better than I was coming in, and if the coaches believed in me and I put the work in, I would improve.”

A determined freshman, Schnabel put up impressive times in individual sprint freestyle and backstroke events. Strong showings in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter freestyle at the 2016 CAA Championship meet indicated this was just the beginning as she transitioned from backstroker to front-line freestyler. She even made a reputation for herself as the one who warms up too much.

“I like to do a quick stretch and just get in the water and go until I feel good,” she said. “Sometimes Coach [Coates] will get mad, because I might actually overwork myself.”

Months of hard work culminated in the strongest showings to date not only for Schnabel, but the entire Northeastern swimming program. The final month of her sophomore

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season saw Schnabel set program records in the 500-meter free (4:52.26) and the 1000-meter free (10:03.95).

Schnabel cited a newfound mental technique as an additional factor in the drastic improvement in her performance: shutting out all thoughts.

“In my best races, my mind shuts off and my body takes over,” she explained. “We’ve practiced these races so many times that once we hit the water at a big meet, your body is ready. It knows what to do. So the most easy races for me were the ones where all my nervous energy just shut off and my body went into auto-drive.”

Earning a position on the 2017 All-CAA Academic Team and being named Northeastern’s Most Valuable Player capped off a historic season for Schnabel, who prides herself equally in her academic and athletic accomplishments. Sophomore teammate Emma Metzger asserted that anyone who knows Schnabel, a fourth-year political science student, knows how much effort she puts in outside of the pool.

“You definitely know that she puts a ton of hard work into her schoolwork,” Metzger complimented. “She’s one of the most hardworking people on our team.”

This trademark work ethic and dedication to both the sport

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and team have earned her the praise of coaches and teammates alike. Both Metzger and Coates, when asked to use one word to describe Schnabel, selected the same word: driven.

“She wants to be better and she does what it takes to be better,” Coates said. “There’s never a day she’s not clearly driven to get better.”

Upon the conclusion of a strong junior season featuring a top-five finish in the 200 freestyle relay at the CAA Championship, Schnabel was rewarded with co-captainship for her senior season. To Coates, her unparalleled work ethic predisposes her towards a natural leadership ability.

“She puts in as much effort every day as anyone on this team,” he elaborated. “One thing that really separates Schnabel from everyone else is that she’s a leader in everything we do: weight room, dry practices, and swimming. From day one, people have looked to her because nobody works as hard as Schnabel does.”

Even from her days as a follower, an undeniable determination and commitment to the sport have primed Schnabel for her final season as a Husky. Confidence could not be higher, and with her track record of constant improvement, her senior season is set to make quite the splash.

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By: Brian Fields PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM PIERCE/NORTHEASTERN ATHleTICS

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DURING MY FOUR YEARS AT NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY, I CAN CONFIDENTLY SAY THAT TRAVEL AND MEET DAYS ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITES. From the moment I pack my bag to

OVER IN AN INSTANT By: Mackenzie Hagist PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

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travel, to the second the last relay is over I am always overflowing with emotions. There’s something about getting up, putting on a uniform, and representing your school. A feeling of pride, excitement, and even a little anxiety. Once the team is all together and the camaraderie gets going, I feel what nerves I have get wiped away for a while. A moment in time that stands out in particular was during the 2017 CAA Championships. I had just returned from being very sick and hadn’t touched a diving board in about 2 weeks. My meet day jitters were at an all time high and every thought I had was filled with doubt, but my teammates pep talks and cheering helped zone me in so I could do my job. The swim and dive team always seem to feed off each other’s positive energy and team spirit.

When it comes time to dive I shift my focus. In diving it is so easy to get ahead of yourself and rush things, especially under pressure. I learned over my 6 years in this sport that this has no benefit. It’s so important to keep a level head.

In a meet, my nerves will start to set in just before I climb the ladder during my turn in each of the 6 rounds. Hearing my teammates cheer for me as I climb up onto the board helps me turn those meet-day jitters into excitement and adrenaline.

When I roll the fulcrum of the board I talk myself through each step of the dive. Reminding myself to think one thing at a time and to focus on the hurdle. A good hurdle is the most essential part of a successful dive. Once the fulcrum is set, I listen carefully to what dive is being announced. Then I lock into place.

At this point the cheering has stopped and the Natatorium is so quiet, you can hear the water dripping off the board and into the pool. Three deep breaths and I begin to move. The world is flipped upside down so fast once I take off the board. Somehow I am able to keep track of where I am and where I need to lock my hands in. I punch through the water, squeeze every muscle I have, and just like that the dive is over in an instant. There is so much work and preparation put into such a short dive, that it leaves you breathless and relieved.

Once I’m back at the surface of the pool and I hear my teammates clapping and screaming, I can’t help but smile. I climb out and cheer on my fellow husky divers and immediately start preparing myself for the next round of dives. Diving is a mental game and you have to play it right.

“What am I but a composition of the girls who I’ve played with over my four seasons here?”

By: GABRIELLE EYL

WHEN YOU THINK OF THE GREATEST MOMENT IN SPORT HISTORY, what do you think of? Exact statistics like Mike Eruzione’s goal in the third period against the Soviet Union during the infamous 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey game? Or do you think of grander collective victories such as the inspiration that gold medal-winning hockey team left for decades of athletics to come, as a country watched a team compete for something greater than themselves?

Competitive athletics stands as one of the greatest teachers because it forces you to compete in so many ways—against other teams, against teammates of similar positions, and against yourself. We are constantly striving to be the best version of ourselves and a better team than we were yesterday. We are trying to support one another, trying to improve with each rep and each practice. But most importantly, we are trying to win in every aspect of our game, from winning the starting spot to winning the championship match. It’s in our DNA, it’s why we are where we are today. We stop at nothing to be the best. But what makes an athlete the “best”?

Ever since the day I committed, I knew there were high expectations for me. While a generally upbeat and positive person, I’m not naive and I knew the writing on the wall. In fact, I even looked up the all-time dig record, set by Natalia Skiba, the girl who had played right before me and who I would be replacing as I came in my freshman year. Fair enough, I figured. Let’s give 2,382 digs a run for its money.

However, instead of using that as motivation, I soon started to compare myself to 2,382 and the person who set this record. It all but drove me into the ground. I was constantly getting on myself for not being good enough, not fulfilling the expectations set for me by the coaches and my teammates, not doing even half the job my predecessor had done. It was a frustrating season for me as I flirted with the idea that I wasn’t what this program thought that I was going to be.

As the season came to a close and I prepared for the off-season, I realized that I needed to focus on being the best teammate. After all, volleyball is the absolute epitome of a team sport. Who cares about records and expectations and personal bests? I needed to ensure that I was working hard for my teammates, not for some irrelevant number of digs.

The thing I came to understand is that people don’t remember records. Sure, your name is written some place, but in ten years, someone else will be above you and ten years after that, someone else will be above them. Records are set to be broken. Being a good teammate, however, now that’s forever. This realization might have been the best thing to happen to me.

As I look back on my four seasons on Huntington Avenue, I am full of gratitude for so many reasons. The most important of all those being the relationships I have formed with my teammates. My sole mission for my senior season has been to ensure that every girl on my team works hard, works for and with each other, and competes day in and day out, both on and off the court. What am I but a composition of the girls who I’ve played with over my four seasons here? I owe everything to them and the grit and determination they’ve instilled in me. While I feel honored that the hard work of my teammates and coaching staff has put me in a position to attempt to break a record, to try and chase anything other than team success would be an insult to all the people who have gotten me to where I am today.

People remember the 1980 Miracle team for playing together in one of the most incredible athletic feats of all time. Setting records requires a craving for greatness. Championships require a craving for team success. And people don’t remember individual records, they remember the championships and the teams that won them.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

TEAM OVER RECORDS

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Art of Serving

By: Jenna Ciccotelli

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

Two steps, a toss, a jump, a hit.

Then the game begins.

Sometimes, particularly if Sherrie Wang or Gabrielle Tschannen is in the back right corner of the court, it instantly results in a point for the Huskies through the coveted service ace. Other times, usually when Clare Lund controls the serve, the other team’s defense is disrupted, their oneor two-hit plays no longer strong enough to make the cut.

Regardless of who is on the line, for head coach Ken Nichols, the serve is the most important part of his team’s game.

“Seventy percent of the time, almost all the success, be it theirs or ours, is predicated on how well we serve,” Nichols said. “That should be a major emphasis.”

After an early morning practice with just two weeks left in the season,

Wang emerged as a leader on the serving slate just this season after totaling 24 service aces last season (good for third on the team), 14 in 2016 and eight in 2015.

Wang and Lund laughed together about their coach’s obsession with the serve, but did agree that he knew what he was talking about.

“He thinks that it affects everything,” Wang said. “And he’s right. It does.”

The Huskies managed to outscore opponents 1,339-1,316 across their 2018 campaign, which concluded with

HOW TO SERVE LIKE A HUSKY “Seventy percent of the time, almost

all the success, be it theirs or ours, is predicated on how well we serve.”

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a CAA Tournament loss to Towson after a 16-14 season (9-8 CAA). They held their competition to 124 service aces while collecting 139 – 32 of which were recorded by Wang. Tschannen filled in as a close second with 31.

Both Wang and Lund have opted for the jump float style of serving, which allows the player to contact the ball at its highest point (the jump) to

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send it sailing over the net at a flatter angle, making it more difficult for their opponents. The original hit on the ball comes with a pop on the palm of the server’s hand, which allows it to move over the net with light movement (the float).

Wang emerged as a leader on the serving slate just this season after totaling 24 service aces last season (good for third on the team), 14 in 2016, and eight in 2015.

“She’s never let up on her craft,” Nichols said of the senior from Annandale, New Jersey. “She’s never settled for just being really good at serving.

She’s constantly trying to find new ways to create movement on the ball.”

While the valuable point that comes from service aces cannot be understated, Wang was quick to insist

that the serve is just the catalyst to the game at large.

“It’s up to the server,” Wang admitted. “But a big part is your teammates, and you playing the actual game to keep your serve. You’re not getting an ace every time. You’re probably almost never getting an ace.”

Despite Lund just tallying 20 aces across her junior campaign, the Pasadena, California native is valuable beyond the box score. Nichols said her serve is capable of wreaking havoc among the impending recipients.

“It’s whole different kind of style,” Nichols said. “It’s not the glaring ace to set ratio, but this is what she does.”

With the natural rotation of volleyball, Wang and Lund often find themselves coming in off of the bench to perform. It might seem like added pressure, but the pair said that not taking themselves too seriously lightens and improves their game.

“When you go back there, it’s okay to like, air a lot, as long as your serve is going to be tough,” Wang laughed.

“When you make a mistake, it’s like ‘Oh man, she’s down on herself, now we’re going to use her as our strategy to beat them.’ I think [it’s better] if you come off and you are okay with missing, or you’re not surprised when you get an ace.”

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As a coxswain, my principal job is to steer, so the Head of the Charles is my time to make the biggest difference in my boat’s performance by steering the shortest course possible and by keeping the rowers engaged and motivated for three miles, or about eighteen minutes. By turning at just the right point and time, I can shave seconds off our overall time. In addition to steering, I have to maneuver around other boats, manage weather conditions and motivate my rowers, all while barreling down the three-mile course at full speed.

The Head of the Charles is one of the largest and most famous rowing races in the world. Teams and athletes from all over the world come to race in this prestigious regatta. It is not uncommon to see crews from Germany, France, the Netherlands and Australia.

To be a part of this race is an honor, and this year I was

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selected to race in the most competitive women’s race of the entire regatta, the Women’s Championship 8+.

I did not want to waste this opportunity, so I came up with a plan of action to prepare.

Each morning during practice leading up to the race, I practiced my turns and positioning on the river just as I would during the race. I printed out maps and made notes of things to remember, such as “start to turn when you see this tree” or “eyes up and watch the buoys.” Using a GPS device, I tracked my courses during practice to

see if I took the fastest line up the river.

On Sunday, Oct. 21, the day of the big race, my eight rowers and I shoved off the dock at Henderson Boathouse after being wished good luck by our coaches and teammates. With the cheering and hollers left at Henderson, it was just me and my eight rowers in our sleek, sixty-foot long, white rowing shell.

We warmed up in the boat and wave-filled Charles River basin. We focused on supporting a strong rhythm that would give us confidence going into the most important race of the fall season.

High winds whipped around us as waves threatened to toss into the boat.

The cold started to set in through my sweatshirt. The key about rowing is that its characteristics and accompanying features cause discomfort. Rowing is hard and it takes an enormous amount of dedication to even get a glimpse of success. If you cave into feelings of discomfort, you can only expect mediocrity. How we manage discomfort determines if we will strive for perfection or complacency.

We reached good speed in the windy basin for our practice race-pace strokes.

Before we knew it, it was time to line up at the start line. Dartmouth was bow number 17, and we were 18, so we slid right behind them.

At the referee’s call, we started to row. With about fifty meters to the start, I called the rowers up to full speed and full pressure.

We flew through the start line at 40 strokes per minute and lengthened to 32 strokes per minute. As we chargedthrough the BU Bridge, I hugged the right-hand buoy line around the turn.

I looked up, and we were starting to challenge Dartmouth. We would soon be in a position to pass.

Meeting some swirling wind through the “Power House Stretch” between the River Street and Western Avenue Bridges, I urged my crew to support each other and press on despite the conditions. Through this stretch we were beginning to come even with Dartmouth and inched our way up to a passing position.

Dartmouth hung with us through the Weeks Bridge, and it was a battle to see who would capture the inside turn as we headed to the Anderson Bridge. I told my crew that it was now or never and we jumped in front, taking the inside turn.

As we passed Newell Boathouse, we had a comfortable lead on Dartmouth, but that would not be good enough.

We continued to build on our speed.

Bow number 16, Duke, was no more than two lengths in front of us as we approached the horse-shoe shaped, half-mile long turn to the Eliot Bridge.

This is always the hardest part of the race. The rowers start to feel the lactic acid build-up in their legs and their lungs burn. But we only had one mile left in the race, and this was the

“steer the shortest course possible”

time to dig deeper and rely on mental strength to bring us around this never-ending turn.

Pain and fatigue must take a backseat during races. You and your competition experience the same.

What separates successful crews from all others is their willingness to row better technically and to row harder while your muscles scream, “no more.”

As I clung to the left-hand buoy line to save more time and shave off meters to row, the rowers found their second wind and started to catch up with Duke.

We finished the turn and shot past the Cambridge Boat Club and through the Eliot Bridge.

I got a straight shot for the next inside turn and hugged the buoys. We were inching up towards Duke. I could see their coxswain peeking over her shoulder at me. With 500 meters left to go, I called the Huskies up to a full sprint in an attempt to pass Duke before the finish line.

We crossed with our bow overlapping with their stern.

We docked at Henderson once again and hopped out of the boat with huge smiles on our faces. We hugged and congratulated each other. Everyone had committed to giving everything they had to that race, and it worked.

We finished better than any other Northeastern women’s rowing boat entered in that event in recent memory. In 2017, the Huskies placed twenty-second. This year, we placed fourteenth and beat crews that had overtaken us just a season before.

As a team, we have since set a new bar, and we are prepared to exceed expectations.

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This summer, Madison Mailey and her teammates on the Canadian Senior National Rowing Team had a choice: they could race with a poor mentality and lose, or they could unite and race to win a world championship.

After winning the Under 23 World Championships for the second time, Mailey earned a spot on the Senior team and was selected to compete at the Senior World Championships in the Women’s 8+ in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Mailey transitioned from having college-aged teammates to having teammates in their thirties, some of them Olympians.

“I had to work hard to gain the respect of my teammates,” the 2018 women’s rowing graduate said.

Earning respect was not the only challenge Mailey faced, however. At the world championships, the team was not coming together. It showed in their first race when the Canadian women placed last out of all of the women’s 8+s.

“We were five strokes into the race, and I could see seven seat’s oar next to me. We were multiple seats down, and it was shocking and really discouraging for everyone.”

After the race, Mailey and her teammates had an emotional meeting about what went wrong. The athletes decided to turn their disappointment into determination. The rowers could not afford to be self-serving. The only way to achieve success would be to trust each other and know that each rower was going to push herself to her physical and mental limits. To row well and fast takes courage, focus and commitment. Mailey and her teammates knew they would have to be brave to have a chance at beating the other elite crews.

Going into the final, the Canadians were ready to make a comeback. Mailey said that her coxswain kept them focused and pushed them to compete for second place against Australia.

“I remember she said, ‘You could be a world champion!’

And that pushed everyone to think about all of the miles and hours they had spent on the water, on the erg and in the weight room,” she said, “to make all of that sacrifice worth it.”

While the Canadians did not pass the Americans, they crossed the finish line in second place, keeping Australia at bay.

“It was so exciting,” Mailey said. “People were throwing up water, and the coxswain was hugging the stroke seat. It was amazing and special.”

They didn’t win a gold medal, but judging from their high spirits, they might as well have. Thinking how much they had to overcome was enough to put the team’s overachieving nature to rest.

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“This is the real deal,” Mailey said, thinking back to receiving her silver medal. “These girls had been my idols for so many years, and to be able to say that I raced in the world championships with them, and that we won a silver medal together, will be something that I will never forget.”

As a Husky, Mailey’s accomplishments inspired her teammates and her poise served as a role model for many of them.

“Winning gold twice for the Canadian U23 team and then silver for the national team opened a lot of people’s eyes and made some of her fellow teammates at Northeastern realize the possibilities that rowing can provide,” said junior rower Anna Kaplan. “She doesn’t let her failures bring her down and strives for more with each achievement.”

“She was already at a high level when she came here,” head coach Joe Wilhelm described. “She had the technique, the ability to focus, and thought about getting stronger and better each day.”

Her hope is that her example inspires the next generation of high schoolers. To Wilhelm, the pinnacle of success as a coach is to instill in your athletes exactly what Mailey feels: a love of sport so pure that they want to continue for the sheer joy of competing at a high level.

“Madison’s example will show recruits that they can take rowing as far as they want,” Wilhelm said.

Mailey now has her eyes set on continuing her rowing career. While finishing her degree in business administration, she can be found training every day on the Charles River.

When she moves back to Canada at the end of 2018, she will again train with the national team.

The goal: the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

UNITED FOR SILVER By: Sara Corey PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of Northeastern university

OWNING IT By: Mel Weber and Adam Gostomelsky PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

Tramaine Shaw sits up in her office chair, located in a narrow hallway on the first floor of Cabot, and leans forward. “You know, I always joke with my athletes, I don’t know if I could have ever coached myself.”

It’s an ironic statement coming from the 2015-2016 Northeastern Hall of Fame inductee who set (and still holds) a couple of Northeastern and CAA records during her career, which ended in 2009. After a whirlwind year, she is only now just starting to get a chance to reminisce about her journey, which started as a volunteer assistant to give back to the program she loved.

“I started full-time coaching with the idea this would be a short-term plan and get a little bit more exposure coaching and have some fun, while I got to continue being educated. I had some other opportunities but in my heart it felt like [coaching] was where I needed to stay and ten years later almost I find myself still here,” Shaw said.

In 2011, Shaw abruptly took charge of the program on a temporary basis after a coaching departure, albeit with very different results. There was no NCAA All-American, no eighth place finisher at the 2018 USA Track & Field Outdoor Championship, no New England Championships for both men and women, no CAA championships for both the men and women (a program first) and no Coach of the Year award in 2011. Shaw admits that she wasn’t ready at the time for the step up, and while the program didn’t necessarily suffer, she said she wasn’t staying true to herself the first time around.

“My mindset then was ‘OK, just stay afloat. If no one dies, if the place doesn’t burn to the ground, you’re OK,’” Shaw said. “This time around was much different. We took some risks and I really decided to own it. I was going to do things the way I wanted to do them and in that moment, not thinking about ‘Is this going to help secure a future job? Is this going to set me up for failure?’”

Senior women’s track and field captain Amy Piccolo believes that since Shaw has already made a significant impact.

“Before we were just a bunch of different groups that were very isolated from each other,” Piccolo said. “But Coach has really done a nice job bringing us all together as one team. She has brought in an amazing and diverse staff that together will build what I think will be the best track and field athletes that our program has ever seen.”

Moreover, Piccolo noted that Shaw puts an emphasis on inspiring her team and helping her team to be the best they can be.

“Coach Shaw is one of those coaches who is always willing to listen, on and off the track. Whether I’m racing a 23-minute 6K or a 12-second 100m, she has the innate ability to calm me down and give any of her athletes the confidence boost they need,” Piccolo said. “She reminded me how to believe in myself. I think that’s something she strives to do with all of her athletes.”

Shaw credits her ability to connect and inspire her athletes to her youthfulness and her own personal Northeastern experiences.

“When they’re having anxiety, when they’re having self-doubts, I’m able to go back and speak directly to those moments where I experienced the same things,” said Shaw. “When they’re having some struggles in classes or with schoolwork, I’m able to speak to some tricks, some tools that I may have used.”

Even though she graduated less than ten years ago, a lot has changed for Shaw. She notes that the track and field program now gets department-issued gear. There is no longer a brick wall separating the training room from the weight room. And they no longer have to do their own laundry. But what hasn’t changed about Shaw is the commitment and pride she holds for her program.

“What makes this doubly special is not only do I have the opportunity to coach at my alma mater, be a female coach at my alma mater, be a female coach of a men’s and a women’s sport, but it really solidifies that I made the right choice,” Shaw said. “To be part of something, to be part of a legacy, to be part of the fabric of your university. It’s something that’s super special and I enjoy it everyday. Part of the reason I chose to coach, and coach here particularly, is because it feels like an extension of my life.”

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Sit down with four former student-athletes to talk about their reflections of their playing career at Northeastern University By: Adam Gostomelsky

PHOTOGRAPHs BY audrey lee

In most athletic programs at most universities, athletes graduate and finish their playing career simultaneously.

However, due to to the the popularity popularity ofo five five yearyearprograms the programsatat Northeastern University, several athletes experience their fifth year of college away from the sport they love, despite the fact that they are still full-time students. The Red & Black sat down with four former student-athletes to discover what it means to make that adjustment ….

Kristen Walding, volleyball: “I honestly thought I would have more free time but I feel like I don’t at all, it’s just being used in different directions.

So before I was just volleyball but now it’s in pursuit of different things, like I started commentating for the girls’ volleyball games. I joined the club triathlon team to try something new, just trying different things outside volleyball.”

Texas Lawton, men’s rowing: “It’s

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clarity. I feel like I can think about other things because you are sort of living day to day and in the moment when you’re doing a sport. But now I can think bigger picture. I can notice things. work into school. Now I can devote all my time towards my studies, which is nice.”

Walding, Lawton, Lopiccolo and Thuresson are four of Northeastern athletics’ most distinguished recent alumni. Walding was an All-CAA volleyball player who ranks fourth in sets played and third in career assists with over 3,000. Lawton was a standout rower who received a bronze medal in the Under-23 world championships for Australia. Lopiccolo was a four-time first team All-CAA performer while Thuresson was Northeastern’s student athlete of the year in 2016-2017. With those level of per-

formances over four years, one would assume that they would want to be able to continue playing at the professional level.

Lawton: “I did [have aspirations of playing professionally] before I came here. I sort of just got burnt out. I mean I don’t publicize that, I don’t tell people that, but I sort of…I don’t know. It’s a lot. College sports is a lot.

In whatever capacity you can take that, but it’s a lot.”

Lopiccolo: “I realized that soccer doesn’t pay a lot financially and it seems that the collegiate level is the pinnacle of how well you’d be treated as an athlete. So I didn’t want to pursue that afterwards, and I kind of came to terms with that my sophomore year in college. So I kind of was slowly having that mindset and coming to terms with it and by the end I was pretty content with it being over.”

Thuresson: “I mean I always pictured bigger things. As a kid I started playing soccer when I was six or seven. Like at this point [in my life] I was going to play at Old Trafford for Manchester United. That was always the goal and the dream, but I think without that passion and that dream, I wouldn’t be here. It didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to but… that’s ok, I’m more than happy with the way it’s turned out.”

Lopiccolo: “I think what’s cool is between all of us – I think the most dangerous thing to be is one dimensional and just tie your entire identity into your sport – and I think as kids we kind of have that. That’s your one love and passion is your sport. But now, I think it’s really cool that Northeastern has allowed me to develop into a very well-rounded and cultured person.

And I’ve definitely grown in just general knowledge than I would have if I had just been a student athlete at a big program and invested my entire life into that.”

So after four years of blood, sweat, and tears, do they miss it? The answers, while unanimous, may surprise.

Lawton: “Honestly? No, I don’t miss the sport. The thing I miss the most is my teammates. They became my best friends and I have 30 best friends now, which is pretty sick. But then you don’t get to see them every day, which is the hardest thing. No way do I miss getting up at 6 a.m. in this cold weather.”

Walding: “I definitely miss the team the most. When I was working the games this year, when they were having a really good game, I miss that part.

But then literally the next game they would get swept and I don’t miss that at all. I definitely miss the team culture the most.”

Thuresson: “I don’t miss the sport whatsoever. I think my last year here was just a…I mean we weren’t doing well, we haven’t been doing well for four years. So it was tough, we were always the underdog, so I don’t miss the sport whatsoever.

KRISTEN WALDING

GRADUATING MAY 2019 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER MAJOR VOLLEYBALL

Lawton: “Do you feel like you left something behind though?”

Thuresson: “Do I feel like I left something behind? I hope so. I mean I’d like to think that I did. I think my class we sort of set the standard for this season and for the coming generations too – I hope.”

Lopiccolo: “You did.”

Thuresson: “I mean, we were a hardworking group of guys, and I think that before we came here this program was kind of like a joke, like a Sunday league men’s team that just got together for fun, it felt like. So I hope we left something behind. But I felt like I left it all out there, I don’t have any regrets about anything. I don’t miss the sport, but I miss the teammates, I miss the locker room.”

All four had different paths to get to Northeastern as freshmen. Thurreson and Lawton both came from outside the country (Sweden and Australia, respectively), with little expectations of what was to come. They came to reinvigorate a dying love for their sport, over their distraught over the lack of harmony between school and sport in their home countries. Lopiccolo and Walding (California and Chicago, respectively) came here as the

hannah lopiccolo

GRADUATING DEC. 2018 ENGLISH MAJOR BUSINESS MINOR SOCCER

thought about ‘do I want to transfer?’

Do I want to quit in general?’ But I stuck it out and I’m so happy that I did. I think Northeastern provided the best experience between volleyball, co-op, and class, I think its just awesome.”

Lopiccolo: “My freshman year, another reason why I wanted to work so hard and kick butt, was because I wanted to look into transferring maybe. Which, I had the best season of my life, but I realized, I think I belonged here and God put me here for a reason and literally put so many obstacles in the way to lead me here.

This is the happiest I could possibly be.”

Lawton: “I’d say I had some pretty high highs here and I had some very low lows. There were times I hated being here and I wanted to go home and there were times that I loved it here. But if I’m honest, I think I’ve done here more than I could have ever dreamt of before coming here. And I think I’m at my happiest I’ve ever been, right now. Which is a pretty cool feeling to have when you’re going out to then explore something which is so unknown. So I think, am I prepared to go out and do that? Oh God, yeah.”

TEXAS LAWTON

GRADUATING DEC. 2018 GRAPHIC DESIGN AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS MAJOR ROWING

JONATHAN THURESSON

JANUARY 2019

GRADUATING MAY 2019 FINANCE AND ECONOMICS MAJOR SOCCER

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When Katie Rolfe tore her ACL and meniscus this past summer, there was only one clear option for her to choose from. With a six to nine month recovery, she knew she would have to redshirt her sophomore volleyball season.

Amidst the excitement of signing to play a sport at the collegiate level, the thought of not being able to participate for a year is a foreign idea to many of the athletes looking to play at that next level. Playing a college sport is a dream for many of them. However, only few know of the unforeseen obstacles that interfere with an athlete’s dream. Many people outside of the realm of athletics are unaware of what it means to be a redshirt player. It means the athlete is not able to participate in any intercollegiate competition for the specific season he or she redshirts. This is normally due to an injury or for developmental reasons.

This rule allows athletes five years to complete four years of competition.

Northeastern field hockey defender Sam Bodo, was asked to redshirt her freshmen season along with four other teammates.

“Being taken out of your so-called team really affected me mentally,” Bodo said. “There were a lot of tough days where I didn’t want to go to practice. There was a moment that I almost gave everything up.”

However, through this tough time in their career, several Northeastern athletes feel that navigating through this obstacle was slightly less difficult with the support of friends, family, teammates as well as the opportunities that the university has to offer.

Even so Sam Bodo’s experience did present a variety of challenges, but it

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YEAR ON THE SIDELINES By: Rebecca Gaddy PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

Katie Rolfe, Sam Bodo (pictured above) and Harry Swartz had different reasons for their redshirt years but the same desire to help their team even while sitting out.

also gave her best friends. Bodo says that “not having them on the field with [her next year will be] the biggest struggle for [her].”

Bodo’s journey has been a remarkable one for sure. After her redshirt year, she “came back that spring [...] like a horse out of a cage.” She was able to make improvements in every dimension necessary – fitness and stick skills – in order to see the field in future seasons. Bodo chose to utilize her obstacle in order to motivate herself to be a better player and ensure herself a role on the field with the team.

Although, redshirting is often associated with freshmen athletes, that’s not always the case. Athletes from all sports and of all ages may have the potential to experience another unfortunate obstacle which requires them to redshirt.

A fifth-year on the men’s soccer team, Harry Swartz, just concluded his final season with the Huskies. He experienced a torn plantar fascial in his heel at the beginning of his third

“ There were a lot of tough days where I didn’t want to go to practice. There was a moment that I almost gave everything up.”

- Sam Bodo

season on the team.

“It was hard,” Swartz said. “It was really hard. Originally, we weren’t really sure what my injury was [but] it got to a point where I wasn’t really able to move much, so I got an MRI. It just made sense to redshirt.”

At the time of his injury, Swartz had already been a member of the men’s soccer team for two years.

However, he still found that during his injury, he felt left out.

“The hardest part was trying to stay apart of the team without helping them win games,” he said. “ “It was miserable, but I knew it was always going to be better. I knew going

through this that it was going to pay off.”

Rolfe has been able to find her way through her unexpected injury by adopting a new role off the court.

“Because I am not being able to play I’ve had a lot of time to watch and learn about the game that I wouldn’t have if I was playing,” Rolfe explained.

Rolfe has been able to use this setback and transform it into a step forward.

“I’d like to think that I still have a role on my team,” Rolfe said. “When some of the girls come off the court they’ll be like, ‘Katie, what do you think about this play?’ and ask other

questions they have about the practice or game. Girls can still look to me to ask questions.”

Undergoing a redshirt season is not a means to the end of an athlete’s success, growth or career. In actuality, it serves as an opportunity for a determined comeback. Nonetheless, it represents a difficult challenge for an athlete to overcome. Support and guidance helped several of the athletes who have already been through, or currently experiencing, a redshirt year.

“Just because you’re out right now doesn’t mean you don’t have a role with your team or that you can’t still contribute in some way,” Rolfe said.

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THE GAME CHANGER

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BRACE “[Brace] is one of the most likeable guys on the team.

Great personality, great team-first attitude, very unselfish, and I think his game depicts that. He’s a multi-tooled player, but he’s a guy that everybody loves as a teammate. He’s the ultimate teammate.”

-Coach Coen

By Jake Sauberman

PHOTOGRAPHs BY BRIAN BAE

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He doesn’t loom over seven feet tall, he doesn’t dazzle with his quickness and he doesn’t look like a bodybuilder.

But he plays like does.

By sticking to his own brand of basketball, junior guard Bolden Brace quietly put together an incredibly valuable 2017-18 season for the Huskies.

However, it was a game that could be described as anything but quiet that established Brace’s name in Northeastern record books as a freshman.

FEB. 23, 2016. The Huskies are fighting for the No. 6 seed in the upcoming CAA tournament. Standing in the way, Elon University. A freshman, Brace remains entrenched behind the three-point line, knowing his role and ready to contribute. By the time the first-half buzzer rings out, Brace nails seven threes in 10 attempts. He scores 28 of the team’s 43 total points.

A game-high 11 more points followed in the second half as the scoreboard displays the 91-91 score after regulation.

By the time double-OT concludes in a one-point Northeastern victory, Brace has the third 40-point performance in school history. He sets the program record with 10 threes. He plays every minute of the first half, second half and both OTs. The freshman had arrived.

“If I hit one shot, I’m usually pulling the next shot I get,” Brace said.

“That game, I just happened to make the first couple shots, and after that I don’t really remember much.”

“I’ve watched that film a couple of times,” he remembered with a laugh.

“It was an incredible experience. I just think once I get in that zone, I lose my mind and go crazy.”

After seeing Brace’s full potential on display, it may come as a surprise to

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learn that as a sophomore, the 6-foot-6-inch guard played predominantly off the bench for the Huskies’ 2017-18 season after averaging 7.5 points and 3.3 rebounds as a freshman.

“He can come in for a number of different players; if anybody in our lineup gets in foul trouble, he can fill in for almost anybody on the floor,” head coach Bill Coen said. “He gives you that kind of versatility.”

Adjusting to the game flow coming off the pine can be difficult for some players. After all, there’s downtime between warmups and checking into

the game that can affect a player’s rhythm. Brace uses that time to his advantage.

“It’s definitely a different mindset,” he said. “Right away, you’re sitting for at least three or four minutes. It’s not enough time to get cold, but you have to stay locked in. What I like to do, I try to pick out which plays they’re running so I’m ready when I check in on defense.”

“Coming off the bench is something that I never thought I would do,” Brace admitted. “But once I started doing it, I realized it’s more

than just not being a starter — it’s more being instant offense and a sparkplug. I actually grew to really like that. It’s a lot of fun [...] when I come in, it’s easy for me to come in and feel confident about my shot.”

And shooting is the most apparent aspect of his game. Brace launched 78 percent of his field-goal attempts from beyond the arc, far and away the highest rate on the team. The result was a lethal 39.6 percent conversion rate, 12th in the CAA among players with over 800 minutes played.

Perhaps the most impressive part

was that Brace had to create open shot opportunities without the ball in his hands. Then-junior Vasa Pusica played the role of primary ballhandler, and it was up to Brace to maneuver around the defense and put himself in a spot where he could catch and shoot in a moment’s notice.

“It’s pretty easy for me because we have such a good point guard in [Vasa Pusica] and such good passers around me,” Brace said. “The majority of my off-ball action is just moving and looking for the open space in between defenders. I just have to be smarter

than the defense while I’m on offense.”

DEC. 2, 2017. The Huskies host Cornell University. Pusica casually brings the ball over half court, hesitates and blows by his defender. Two defenders run over to help cover the paint. Before defenders react, the ball is slung across the court to a wide open Brace in the corner.

Catch the ball, bring it down, adjust the hands, bring it up and follow through — 0.55 seconds and the ball is airborne.

All Cornell can do is helplessly watch the ball sail through the net.

With shooting ability like Brace’s, one would think that this exact scene plays out a dozen times each game.

Instead, it’s his overwhelming unselfishness that outweighs any other aspect of his game.

Case and point: no Husky had a lower usage rate than Bolden Brace – Husky possessions ended less frequently on a Brace shot attempt or turnover than any other player.

“Having the ball in my hands more is not something I’m really worried about,” Brace said. “I’m just looking to create the best shot for the team. That’s just the way I am.”

Coen asserted that claim — it’s just the way he is.

“It speaks to the way he’s naturally oriented. He’s a selfless person, he wants to move the ball,” Coen said.

“Sometimes he passes up some good open shots, but what he does do is make the offense go for other guys.

When you look at our offensive efficiency, a lot of it has to do with the passing, and [Brace] is a big contributor to that.”

When Brace passed up a shot, it was for good reason. His 16.3 percent assist rate ranked second on the team.

Not too shabby for a guy who plays off

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With his opposition in the air, Brace cuts to the hoop and gives a hop step, drawing another Terrier in the interior.

Another pump fake puts him in the same compromising position as his teammate, and Brace takes the opportunity to draw contact and the whistle.

One free throw, splash. The next, no problem. Two more on the board for the Huskies.

Putting it all together, Brace’s effective field-goal percentage stood at 61.5 percent, also second-best on the team. This metric values a three-pointer as 1.5 field goals, since it’s worth 1.5 times as many points as a normal two-point field goal.

The three-pointer remains an integral part of his game, and it’s the threat of the deep shot that affords him opportunities inside the arc.

“A lot more kids can shoot threes rather than dunk or fly through the air, especially in my game,” Brace said, before adding: “I can’t really jump very high.”

Brace might be selling himself a bit short there. Sure, he doesn’t boast a 40-inch vertical, but that doesn’t stop the crafty guard from dominating the defensive glass.

At 6-foot-6, Brace led his team in defensive rebounding percentage, corralling 19.6 percent of opponents’ missed shots. The secret to his success?

“It comes down to being active, that’s the guy that gets the most rebounds,” Brace said. “The first thing I think of is, where can I go to get the best opportunity to get the ball?”

Brace pointed to the white lines around the key under the basket, referred to as the rebounding box.

“That’s the area on the court where the ball is most likely to go after the

78% 3PT SHOT ATT.

TEAM RANKS

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the ball.

Still, with an offensive profile like Brace’s naturally comes talk of getting him more involved in the team’s offensive schemes.

“You’re always looking to get creative and find ways for him to score,” Coen said. “He’s one of those guys that once he sees the ball go in the basket early, he can get in for a big night.”

Of course, Brace won’t be open for three every time, especially as the league grows more and more aware of his shooting prowess. But he could look for more opportunities inside the arc, where he is already one of the team’s most efficient scorers.

It’s not a new concept to Brace, but it’s something that he continues to work on.

“A lot of people try to get me to get in the paint a little more — my dad, my coaches,” Brace said. “I’ve never really been a guy who does that, but I’m definitely going to try to get more looks inside the arc because they’re easier shots. When you drive you can also create for other guys because defense collapses, so it’s a good thing to have in your game.”

Despite making up just 22 percent of his shot arsenal, Brace converted two-point shots at a 69.2 percent clip, good for second on the team. If he got fouled on the way to the basket? No problem, his 82.4 percent free-throw percentage was tops among Huskies.

NOV. 6, 2018. Crosstown rivals Boston University enter Matthews Arena. Brace receives a pass at the top of the key. He fakes the three-point look, leaving the defender no choice but to bite — anything to avoid giving the sharpshooter a clean look at the basket.

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shot,” he explained. “Watching film and trying to look for tendencies, where guys don’t box out and where guys don’t look to get the rebound, that’s what I’m looking for.”

The Huskies’ built their offense on efficiency rather than pace — their 49.5 percent field-goal percentage ranked first in the CAA, while their 955 field goals attempted ranked at the bottom. But with Brace on the floor, they were able to run a combination of the two.

In that SAME GAME against BU, Terrier guard Jonas Harper goes up for a layup, but Brace is with him the whole way with a hand in his face, making an otherwise easy shot nearly impossible.

Before the ball clangs off the rim, Brace is already sizing up the two nearest Terriers, positioning his body perfectly to create a impassable wall separating their reaching arms from the prize. He has it angled down to the degree — the ball lands harmlessly in his grasp.

But before the Terrier defense could react, Brace spins around and fires a deep pass down the floor to a wide open Pusica. Easy two points.

“Our offense in transition picks up because he’s a tremendous defensive rebounder,” Coen illustrated. “Whenever he gets a rebound, because of his skill set, he can push the ball in transition and create good transition shots.

He brings that element to our game and that’s really important.”

“Rebounding is about attitude and effort,” Coen added. “He’s always on the go, he’s in constant motion, he’s not afraid to bang and he’s not afraid of making multiple efforts on a possession. A lot of guys will just die out, make one or two hard cuts, they won’t finish the possession. But his motor is

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always on the go.”

It’s these intangibles that has Coen and fellow Huskies in awe. Brace’s subtle dominance doesn’t end with the hardwood. “[Brace] is one of the most likeable guys on the team. Great personality, great team-first attitude, very unselfish, and I think his game depicts that,” Coen said. “He’s a multi-tooled player, but he’s a guy that everybody loves as a teammate. He’s the ultimate teammate.”

Now a junior, Brace understands the leadership responsibility that naturally falls on him.

“I like to think that guys look up to me, and that’s always in my head while I’m on the court,” he said. “Just trying to stay positive, be loud, be a leader and trying to influence them. Anybody could be watching, especially those younger guys.”

If there’s one statistic to sum up Bolden Brace’s game, it would be box plus/minus. This is a box score estimate of the points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player, translated to an average team. Essentially, it takes into account every element of a player’s game, and estimates how many additional points it’s worth.

Nobody in the CAA had a higher box plus/minus than Bolden Brace.

Coen said it best: “When he comes in the game, the game changes.”

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One finishes the year

reflecting on her time at Northeastern and looking ahead to the next chapter. The other only just began his Husky stint and hopes to continue to outperform expectations. Natalie Nidetch and Noah Abrams, this year’s women’s and men’s starting goalies, respectively, are both coming off a strong year of form.

After head coach Ashley Phillips, who was then only an assistant coach, saw Nidetch at the high school club level, it was clear that the Hewlett, New York native could make an immediate impact at Northeastern. In Nidetch, Phillips saw raw shot-stopping ability and natural explosiveness. In Northeastern, Nidetch saw a burgeoning program, coming off the back of two recent championship titles.

“You could tell that the program was moving up,” Nidetch, now a senior, said. “I wanted to be part of that.”

Coaches expected Nidetch to challenge for the starting spot when she arrived, but things didn’t go as planned.

“I think that her freshman year it took a little time to get her feet on the ground and just have that same confidence that we saw on the recruiting path,” Phillips said.

Only a sophomore, Abrams was head coach Chris Gbandi’s first recruit a few years ago. He spent the last two years of high school playing at a Massachusetts prep school where Gbandi knew the coaches well.

Abrams impressed Gbandi with his shot-stopping skills and precocious, on-ball composure. Gbandi impressed Abrams with his passion.

“In his next five years he wanted to bring our team to a Final Four,” he said. “That's always been in the back of my head since I committed here my junior year.”

But Gbandi also made it clear that Abrams would need to train hard for two years before he could see consistent playing time.

“I didn't have high expectations,” Abrams said. “I was confident with my abilities, but I told myself that I was going to come in and work as hard as I could every single day and then hopefully play.”

Abrams spent his freshman year learning from fellow goalie and senior captain, John Thuresson.Through this mentorship, Abrams earned himself a start in two games freshman year, rare for a first-year keeper. “[Thuresson] was an amazing role model and someone I really look up to today,” Abrams said. “He taught me, not through things that we spoke about but kind of [through] everything [else], how to conduct yourself and how to be a leader.”

Abrams’ hard work paid off as he secured his starting spot for his sophomore season. Since then, Abrams has led the team’s other two goalies, Adam Gostomelsky and Chandler Cree. Their relationship developed quickly through shared support and motivation.

“Whoever's playing, I think we support each other really well,” Abrams said. “We have really good camaraderie. I think we're three different types of kids completely but we push each other and bring out the best the other.”

For Nidetch, her relationship with elder keepers Jill Quinn and Mollie Rosen was difficult at first but ended up being just as fruitful. When she arrived, Nidetch saw others as competition, an obstacle in the path of the starting spot.

“It definitely gave me something to work towards because they pushed me every day,” she said. “They made sure that I was going to play the best I could because If I was going to be the one starting, the whole team depended on me.”

Since earning her starting spot during her sophomore year, Nidetch made a similar transition as Abrams from student to teacher. Nidetch took her experience to heart, feeling responsible for the younger goalies.

“The way I look at it, any goalie that comes in after me is working so that they can eventually be a starter,” she said. “I never really thought of them as a threat. Not because they weren't good, but because I want to help them get better too and they're going to help me get better.”

From this attitude, an intimate friendship quickly developed. The group calls themselves “Keeper Union.” “[Nidetch] took them in under her wing,” Phillips said of the senior’s relationship with her mentees. “She encouraged

BETWEEN TH Men’s soccer goalie: Noah Abrams Women’s soccer goalie: Nathalie Nidetch By: Jacob Horowitz PHOTOGRAPHs by alex melagrano BY BRIAN BAE

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But as she looks to move on, she is confident in the future of Keeper Union.

“They have all of the capabilities of doing it. They're goingto have to step into a role they're not used to but I don't think they'll have any issues with it.”

Abrams is in a similar state of mind, nursing his head injury with big expectations for the future. He has already identified the part of his game most needing improvement this offseason, pointing to his struggles in beginning a counter-attack. Other than that, Gbandi agrees that most of Abrams’ gains in ability will come through experience.

They may be at opposite points in their career, but Abrams and Nidetch have proven their roles for Northeastern’s soccer teams between the posts.

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them, was positive with them, and helped them get better too.” Nidetch made great strides in development since becoming a Husky. She said her biggest improvements come from the mental side of the game, citing confidence as the missing ingredient during her first two seasons.

In Phillips’ mind, Nidetch’s biggest growths came tactically: “Her biggest growth was just the understanding of the game and reading of the game a little bit better which allowed her to organize her back line and hopefully see less shots overall.”

Nidetch’s future after graduation is uncertain, but she has high hopes. She is pursuing a professional contract overseas but is focused on recovery at the moment after breaking her back in her final appearance.

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TODO SACRIFICIO TIENE SU RECOMPENSA By: Gerardo Milano

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE We have a saying in Venezuela: “todo sacrificio tiene su recompensa” -“every sacrifice has its rewards.” Despite the difficulties of adjusting to a new life, it’s been an amazing experience so far.

MAKING A LIFE CHANGE IS DIFFICULT, sometimes scary, especially when you’re saying goodbye to your family and friends.

Hard to believe, but that is the cost of pursuing your dreams — dreams that push you outside of your comfort zone and demand the best of you. Continuing my soccer career abroad was my top priority by the time I was finishing my junior year in high school, and no better way to do so than by coming to the U.S. My older brother, Riccardo, had just finished his junior year as a student-athlete, giving me a sense of what my life would be like. With all the chaos that my country was going through, my decision to leave Venezuela to seek better opportunities in both soccer and academics seemed to be the right one.

What was once the richest country in Latin America, has been for many years spiraling into chaos. Venezuela is going through a political, economic and humanitarian crisis, which is forcing many people to leave the country in search of better opportunities. Even though my decision to come to the U.S was already made, leaving Venezuela was not easy for me. Leaving all my past aside, the place where I grew up — my favorite place. The people, the music, the beaches, the food, the weather… honestly, it was not easy at all.

When I arrived to the United States, I realized how hard it is to be away from your people for so long. The weather, “El Clima,” is definitely one of the things I miss the most. Coming from a place where temperatures range from 60-80 degrees all year around to a city where the eternal winter lasts for six months of the year, believe me, it is not so easy. Then there’s the food. There’s good food in Boston, but it simply cannot be compared to coming back home and seeing that my mom has just prepared a "Pabellon," the traditional Venezuelan dish.

The language. Due to the lack of my English proficiency, I had to complete an English program for about nine months which prevented me from going through the recruiting process that regular college soccer players complete. So it was in the spring of 2016 when Coach Gbandi gave me the opportunity to try and join the team as a walk-on.

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My college soccer career at Northeastern — and my decision to cometo the US — was going to be defined by that trial. Every day I had to prove in practice that I deserved a spot and that I took the right risk in coming here. And when Coach told me I was officially part of the team? No doubt one of the most rewarding moments in my life.

We have a saying in Venezuela: “todo sacrificio tiene su recompensa” -“every sacrifice has its rewards.” Despite the difficulties of adjusting to a new life, it’s been an amazing experience so far. I am truly grateful for the opportunities that studying in the U.S is offering me, and I cannot take this for granted. Being a student-athlete at Northeastern has been a privilege for me. I couldn’t be more appreciative to my coaches and teammates for welcoming me as part of the family. From day one I committed myself to give my best and improve as both a soccer player and an individual as much as I could, knowing that there are teenagers back in Venezuela who would love to do what I’m doing, but are not able to leave the country to seek better opportunities. This motivates me to set an example for the children in Venezuela, showing them what is possible.

Seeing in the news how much people are suffering in Venezuela, how the crisis is literally ending the lives of many individuals, is shocking. It is hard to see that what was once the perfect place to live my childhood, become the most dangerous place to live and one of the worst economies in the world. This impacts me here emotionally, but I have faith that it will change someday. Like many, I have this hope that we will all return in the future and rebuild our country, even if that sounds very far away from now. This is one of the things that keeps me motivated in my day to day life, knowing that the education I’m receiving and the future I’m building will be our main tool that will help us rebuild Venezuela.

I have realized this has been the best decision I have ever made.

Nothing but appreciation towards the school, the athletic program, the boys, the coaches and every person who has contributed to my development. Gracias.

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ALWAYS MORE TO SCORE

By: Hannah Rosenblatt

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

I LOVE PRACTICE. Growing up in the small town of Lincoln, Massachusetts, Saturday mornings since preschool revolved around early morning rec soccer and t-ball. Throughout my elementary and middle school years, I was always one of the smallest girls on the field, which forced me to find different ways to break defenses down. I found myself on the bubble in club soccer, never being the player the coach looked to. While I had success in my early high school soccer career, my size held me back. I was a scrawny 14-year old playing with two senior captains going to Notre Dame and Duke for lacrosse and numerous other teammates who were committed to play various sports in college.

Athletes all have doubt in the back of their minds, but the good ones are able to suppress it with their self-confidence. The doubt set into my mind, but not once did I think “maybe this just isn’t for me.”

Part of me knew nothing better than to keep going because that is just what you do - that’s what I do.

Aug. 5, 2015. A 6 a.m. Beep Test greeted me. Not only was I nervous I was going to fail, I was surrounded by teammates who were strangers. I mean how was I supposed to tell the twins apart, nevermind know nearly anyone's names. None of that mattered, all I had to do was run. It didn’t matter what was going on beside me. I had no choice but to pass.

However, it wasn’t long until I got my first reality check. First practice. First drill. I get the ball and just as I was about to pass it, Hannah Lopiccolo, the CAA Rookie of the Year, my future friend and roommate, tackles the crap out of me. I was rattled. All within a matter of hours on day one, I was back to reality. I was back to having to suppress that seed of doubt in my mind.

A quick two weeks later, we had our first regular season game. I was the first player off the bench and was thrown into right midfield, a position I had only been playing for two weeks. I was a deer in the headlights. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and it showed.

The next game was the only one I never appeared in.

My sophomore year, we were searching for our first win of the season, against Providence. I started that game but was subbed out after twenty minutes and did not reenter the game until the 100-minute mark in double OT. When I was thrust back into the game I almost didn’t know why. I didn’t play well in the beginning of the game and had been watching for 80 minutes. There was that seed of doubt again.

I wasn’t warmed up and I don’t think I touched the ball for nine minutes until I found myself streaking down the left flank with seconds left, screaming for the ball. When I got the ball and drove to the goal, defenders retreated, but it was just me and the goal. No one else mattered. It was back to backyard practicing with my dad with pool noodles hung within a yard of the corners. Just as I would do in my backyard, I calmly slotted it in the back of the net.

All I remember feeling is pure joy knowing that I stepped up. It all changed for me in that moment. It wasn’t going to be like freshman year. I was no longer the freshman struggling with allowing myself to make a mistake, not wanting to take a stupid shot. There was a seed of confidence that was planted in me that game that only grew throughout the season. A PK to beat Drexel in OT, a goal in the championship en route to the CAA title. I could do no wrong.

That Providence game made me. Now I expected to step up in big moments, which made junior and senior years feel more rocky.

29 goals and nine assists later, I still ended my career with a sense of dissatisfaction. I could have helped the team more.

But then again, I’ve never been satisfied. The second you are satisfied is when you don’t care about that seed of doubt planted in your mind. You feel as though you’ve done enough. Even though I am moving on from soccer, I will take this lesson with me in everything I do. Because there will always be more goals to score.

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When Gerardo Milano arrived in Boston to begin his college career at Northeastern, he didn’t know a word of English.

Inspired by his older brother, Riccardo, who was playing soccer for Division I St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, Milano made the move to Boston from his native Caracas, Venezuela. He enrolled in a nine-month English program to learn the language in order to become a full-time student at Northeastern, where he joined the men’s soccer team as a walk on.

Moustapha Samb was chasing the same dream in Senegal.

And in Norway, after taking a year off from school and focusing on soccer, Martin Nygaard was itching to do something different from his peers who were going the traditional college route. For each of them, the next step was joining the Huskies.

This season, the Huskies boast a roster with eight international players – Milano, Samb, Nygaard, Noah Abrams (London, England), Jacob Marin-Thomson (Madrid, Spain), Dante Morrissette, Ryan Massoud and Omar Da Naia (Ontario, Canada), down from 14 in 2015 and 13 in 2016.

According to head coach Chris Gbandi, these numbers are not a coincidence.

“Because the game is so global, I think ultimately you’re going to get players from all over the world,” Gbandi said. “We try to get the best players we possibly can, and if you’re going to do that, you’re going to have to look outside the U.S. because the game is played all around the world.”

Gbandi said there can be obstacles with such a geographically-varied group, particularly when it comes to blending his team’s different playing styles.

But for the international players, Gbandi and the coaching staff’s slight stressor serves as their welcome home party of sorts.

“It makes everything easier when you look around and you see that there are so many other international kids,” Samb said.

“In your head you say, ‘Oh, I’m not by myself.’ It could’ve been a lot harder. Seeing other guys from Norway, Venezuela and just knowing that you’re in this together makes it easier and more comfortable.”

To Milano, having teammates from all around the world doesn’t just make it easier in terms of adapting. It makes him want to work harder.

“It gives you the opportunity to share your past experiences and your culture with them at the same time,” he said. “That

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is intrinsic motivation to work towards, representing your culture with people from different countries worldwide.”

For the trio, a spot on the men’s soccer team while getting a Northeastern education was the logical next move toward their visions of playing professionally, maybe one day competing for their native countries. But the seniors say donning a Huskies uniform has already given them the opportunity to represent their homes in a way they know is needed.

For Samb, it’s simple – he’s putting his country on the map.

He said his teammates did not know where Senegal was when he first joined the team, but now they know “so much more.”

“Looking back now, five years ago, if somebody told me that I would actually come to the U.S. and live here for four years, I would’ve told them that they were crazy,” Samb said. “I never thought that could happen one day.”

Nygaard is grateful to be representing a path to success that is possible outside of his home country.

“There’s not that many people that have the same opportunity as me,” Nygaard said. “Norway is a pretty rich country, and it’s easy to take things for granted. The way I’m doing [college] is a bit different from everyone, it’s an education I would say is better than most people at home. It means a lot.”

Milano had his brother as a role model as he began to envision his path to college soccer in a new country. Now, he wants to set an example for children in Venezuela, showing them what is possible as he represents his home country on the turf at Parsons Field.

I know a lot of kids want to do the same thing” Milano said. “Being the role model and being an example for these kids motivates me to do better and better [...] in academics as well.”

Gbandi knows what it feels like for his players to dream of representing their home country – it’s a dream he accomplished after completing a journey similar to the one so many of his players are on.

Born in Liberia, he fled the country with his family in the midst of its civil war and moved to Texas, where he grew up and played in Houston before joining the team at the University of Connecticut. From there, he joined the Liberian national team.

“Anytime you’re representing not only yourself and your family but you’re representing your culture andthe country that you’re from, I think you have that extra motivation,” he said. “When these guys are playing, you can tell there’s an extra energy.”

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ONE TEAM NORTHEASTERN huskies MEN’S SOCCER By: Jenna Ciccotelli PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN BAE

MEN’S SOCCER INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS Abrams Da Naia Marin-Thomson Massoud Milano Morrissette Nygaard Samb *THis story first appeared on nuhuskies.com

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“Rugby is all about

getting back up and putting yourself back in the game when you get hit.”

By Gabriella Gil

Photograph by Alex Melagrano

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Joining the Women’s Rugby team in the spring of 2015 felt like a puzzle piece clicking into place for me. After coming back from NU.in Dublin, I felt severely out of place on a campus that was meant to be my home for the next four years of my life. Being from California, Boston’s historic winter had me feeling extremely homesick and adjusting to the rigor of Northeastern’s courses was a major struggle for me.

My International Student Advisor from NU.in, Christina Erving, had played for Northeastern Women’s Rugby when she attended school and encouraged a few of us to give it a try when we got to Boston in the spring. I had previously only played softball and had the intention of trying out for the club team, but when a few of my friends from NU.in joined rugby, I just followed along. This decision ended up altering my entire college career. As a senior now, most of my life revolves around rugby, from my roommates and my friends to how I spend all my time outside of classes and co-op.

I am thankful that the most shining aspect of rugby culture, and especially Northeastern Women’s Rugby culture, has always been the willingness of the players to reach out with open arms and provide a friendly and supportive community for all those that need it.

Over my past four years here at Northeastern and on the team, we have always strived to keep that one thing the same during times of huge team dynamic shifts.

My year of recruits joined the team after something like 12 seniors had graduated, and we were going to be in a heavy “development” year. After losing so many knowledgeable players from the year before, any rookie that

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joined the team was almost automatically given a starting spot. There was little to no competitive nature with the roster and, in turn, there was no drive to earn your place. This developmental year turned into two and before we knew it, we had gone two seasons without winning any conference games. We were all pacified with “we played our best” and “we put up a good fight” and any other verbal pat on the back that was given to us at the time.

We didn’t need to win matches in order to have a good time. Our mantra those first few years was always “first place in the social” because we were so great at bonding with the teams we had just played against.

As a younger player, this was exciting. I loved the culture and the fun, I didn’t care about winning games or being a decent player on the team.

We’d hold team bonding events after every game and it didn’t seem unusual to me that we had yet to show any improvement within a year. I remember one match that we had lost against Boston University had come down to just two points and we just accepted that we played to the best of our ability and told ourselves that it was a feat for us to even come so close to beating them.

It wasn’t until the fall of 2016, and our first conference win against the University of Rhode Island, that everything began to change.

On September 17, we showed up to our match against URI not expecting all that much, but that evening we came home with our first official conference win. This was the first match that I had ever been put in to play a full 80 minutes, so my nerves were off the charts. My memory of

what happened during this game is hazy, and most of the players I speak to about it don’t seem to recall much either, except for the excitement we all felt when that final whistle blew — we had won the match.

After the realization that we could actually be a successful rugby team that also knows how to have fun, we finished off the season ending in third place for the Northeast Women’s Collegiate Division I Rugby Conference. Not bad for a team that had finished in last place the year before.

With the shift in attitude about winning came the shift in our team culture. When we grew our Rugby 7s program in the spring of 2016, the starting roster size dropped from 15 to 7 and the level of competition within the team exploded. We built off our foundation of a tight team bond through socializing and hanging out to develop a positive team culture that encouraged self-improvement. Instead of hanging out at someone’s apartment and watching movies like we often did, we spent that time working out together in Marino. When roster selections were made and I did not make the starting side, my friends didn’t just leave me behind. They rallied around me, showed me new workouts to try, and kept pushing me to work harder until I got to make the roster that I wanted to be on. Every player pushed one another to improve and the focus of our team transitioned from being “first place in the social” to being as competitive as possible on the pitch.

Throughout all this change, we still emphasized the importance of kindness and acceptance on the team.

In a heavy hitting game like rugby, a teammate has to be someone that you

“In a heavy hitting game like rugby, a teammate has to be someone that you can inherently trust to have your back on, but especially off the pitch.”

can inherently trust to have your back on, but especially off the pitch.

College is a tough transitional period and being away from home and family is difficult at times. During my sophomore year, I got a call right before rugby practice from my mom that my grandmother was in the hospital because she had fallen and broken her hip. They were going to end her dialysis and let her run out the time. I could either fly home and see her one final time or I could wait and fly home for the funeral. The call left me devastated, but practice gave me a nice distraction that allowed me to clear my head a little bit. Afterwards, my teammates all dropped what they were doing just to come over to my place and keep me company because I didn’t want to be alone.

It’s moments like these that allow you to fully put your trust in each other and help to build a positive chemistry on the field. My teammate is someone who would pick me up off the ground after a hard hit and tell me to get back in the game, but also someone who would take the time to

be there to support me when times get tough and life knocks you down.

In the fall of 2017, I took a leave of absence to go back home and spend time with my father who had just been diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.

Our fall season was shaping up to be the best one yet, and the excitement around how far we would go was high, which made leaving the team incredibly hard. I had just been voted in as President and had so many ideas for how to improve the logistics of the team, but I had to ultimately make the choice to go home indefinitely.

Leaving my team was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do, not just because of a promising season, but because it felt like I was leaving my family.

I remember telling my good friend, Hannah Bogich, that I was leaving and she immediately responded with, “Whatever you need, I’ll do it. No matter what.” And so she stepped in as Vice President when she previously had sworn up and down that she would never want to be a part of E-Board, but she didn’t bat an eye when I had asked.

After that moment, I had thought my time with Northeastern women’s rugby was done for good. I went back home to spend time with my father and watched as my team finished out their season. A few months later, I made the decision to return to Northeastern for spring semester in order to finish my degree. Since re-joining my team, I’ve taken back my position as President and we’ve been dominating our fall season. We set a goal to make it to nationals early on this past summer, and now we’re making it happen.

We’re making history right now and I

am so glad to still be playing alongside my teammates. The years that we spent constantly hanging out together and pushing each other to be our best can be seen in our chemistry on and off the field. Everyone loves playing with each other, that’s what makes it fun and that’s what has helped us to to place second in the Northeast Division I Conference.

Now, as I reflect back on my time with this team, I could not be happier with how much both my teammates and our team have grown. Much of our success would not be possible without the constant help of the clubsports program here at Northeastern, to whom we are forever grateful for allowing our players and our sport to thrive. We also would be nowhere without our alumni, who paved the way for us all those years ago and still find the time to help us out now. We have worked tirelessly to mend the team dynamic, shift our focus to rugby, and instill all this in our younger players so when all 14 of our seniors leave after this year, the team isn’t left in the same place it was when I first joined. When I watch our new recruits and younger players take the pitch or interact with each other, I am overwhelmed by the pride I feel to be a part of this team. It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that you’ll be leaving a team that you’ve given so much of your blood, sweat, and time to, but I know that I’ll still be cheering them on from the stands long after even our newest recruits have left.

Rugby is all about getting back up and putting yourself back in the game when you get hit and that’s helped me so much throughout college.

Once a Maddog, always a Maddog.

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Nationals. I was going to Nationals.

I had talked about it for years and now it was finally here – almost. Just one more week and I would be driving nine hours across cornfields from suburban New Jersey to middle of nowhere Michigan for my first national championships, the 2018 US Collegiate Figure Skating Championships. Even though I hadn’t even taken a class at Northeastern yet, I was thrilled to be representing the university I would call home in less than a month. Problem was, I was freaking out.

I had been training incredibly well all summer, but not today, and not really yesterday for that matter. Now was not the time for things to go downhill. My coach who would be traveling with me to Michigan, Lisa Musmanno-Blue, wanted to see both of my programs in our thirty minute lesson today. I wanted to protest– six and a half minutes of programs during any thirty minute period was taxing, let alone on the beginning of a two hour morning session after I was out just a little too late the night before – but ended up keeping my mouth shut.

It was the last time she would see my programs prior to the competition.

Doubting my ability to get through both programs successfully, I started to warm up my double jumps. They were a little shakier than I would have liked, but nonetheless landed after a few minor corrections.

When the beginning beats of the Beauty and the Beast prologue started blaring through the sound system, signaling the beginning of my long program, all of my anxieties about the next week came out. What if all of this good training doesn’t matter? What if I

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miss every jump? What if we drive all the way to Michigan for me to skate like crap? What if the other girls are just better than me? All of the “what if” statements I’ve been instructed to just acknowledge, but not treat as true statements, beat down on me like the truest statements in the world.

Needless to say, they wrecked that program and the rest of the lesson was spent trying to convince me that I was more than prepared.

After nearly 45 minutes of looking like an overly emotional nut and being sent off the ice to recompose myself, I returned to the ice with the simple goal of completing a short program before the session ended. I told myself if I was able to skate a clean short program after that meltdown, I was prepared.

And I did.

The next day, it was like nothing had never happened. Training was smooth for the remainder of the week, and if anything the meltdown, and subsequent recovery from it, made me more confident in my preparations. It didn’t hurt that my coaches reminded me that I often skate incredibly well at competitions following a meltdown.

When I left my home rink for the last time before driving to Michigan, I felt confident and prepared with a healthy amount of nerves. The kind of nerves that just meant I cared. The drive was brutally long and boring, but my mom and I made it just in time for my first practice. Considering I had been in the car for ten hours. My programs were solid (I just did them facing the wrong direction) and I could tell the atmosphere was going to be very different than any other competition I had been to. I always heard that the Collegiate Championships was far

more fun than most competitions.

There were no young skaters being forced to compete against their will or homeschooled kids who hardly knew a world outside of the rink. Every skater there was a student-athlete, committing an equal amount of time to school as they were to figure skating. Everybody was thrilled to be there, to represent their school and meet other collegiate figure skaters. It was refreshing, but also strange.

Two days later, it was time to take the ice for my short program. I was more nervous than usual, but I could tell they were good nerves. They were there because I felt prepared. I knew that if I skated well, I had a good chance of medaling. This added pressure, but for one of the first times in my career, I felt completely capable of handling it.

“Representing Northeastern University, please welcome to the ice Elizabeth Klemm.”

That was my cue. Lisa and I exchanged our good luck high fives, I skated to my starting pose and a few seconds later my music, “Rise Up” by Andra Day, started.

It’s rare that a skater ends a program and feels there was absolutely nothing they could have done better. That happened. There was nothing I was capable of doing better. Whatever my score might be, or wherever I might have placed, I would’ve been elated with that program.

And then the scores were announced and my jaw dropped. I beat my previous high score by nearly seven points. I was currently in first place. There were four skaters left to take the ice and as each one’s score was announced I was still in first. I could

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By Elizabeth Klemm

PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of elizabeth klemm

not believe it.

Now I just needed to stay focused, but relaxed and skate my long the next day just how I had been at home. I was halfway to a national medal, and everybody would be chasing me. But I couldn’t think of that. I just needed to do my job.

After my name was announced for the long program, I took a final sip from my obnoxiously bright banana yellow Hydroflask that perfectly matched my dress. I was portraying Belle, after all.

This program was far lighter and happier than my short program and I tried to show that joy throughout the program. As I landed each jump, I checked it off on my imaginary checklist, became just a little more excited and then forced myself to focus for the next elements. I don’t think I have ever been more focused during a program.

And it paid off.

There was only one slight mistake in the entire long program. My music ended and I could not wipe the smile off my face. I knew I had done it. I had won a collegiate national medal.

My scores were announced, and while the score for the long program was slightly lower than I had expected, my total score was over 10 points higher than my previous personal best.

I was in first place with two skaters remaining – the skaters who were in second and third after the short program.

They ended up coming in first and second, leaving me third, but I had accomplished my goal. No matter the color, I had won a national medal, for myself and for Northeastern, and had the skates of my life.

Hopefully, it’s the first of many.

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Most of America had changed the channel two days ago, but a couple of televisions in Massachusetts were still glued into the process on day three of the 2018 MLB Draft. Round by round goes by. Then, a name quickly flashed across the television screen, and a lifelong dream had come true for two Northeastern baseball players.

Utilityman Charlie McConnell and shortstop Max Burt were going to play professional baseball.

“Crazy day,” Burt remembered.

“It was just disbelief and shock that everything was happening, because you work for this your whole life,” McConnell added. “You’re stunned.”

McConnell was able to strike a deal with a team before his name was called for the 13th round. All that was left was waiting for that name to pop up. It did, but not for the team he expected.

“I was sitting waiting for that team to take me, and all of a sudden the [Seattle] Mariners grabbed me. I get a call from their scouting director, and it was just disbelief and shock that everything was happening,” McConnell said. “I walked in front of the TV and my dad said, “The Mariners just took you.” I was like, “What?” And I looked down, saw my name and I got a call from Seattle.”

Selected in the 28th round by the New York Yankees, Burt had plenty of time to soak in the anticipation — and worry.

“Rounds go by and I see shortstops get picked and I get stressed out. The 22nd round comes around and I just leave my house and go for a walk,” he said. “Rounds kept on going and I was just like, is this going to happen or am I done?”

But there was a guiding voice that

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kept him assured that some team would take the chance on him.“After that comes the 28th round and I just get a weird feeling,” Burt recalled. “My grandfather had passed away earlier that year, and I spoke to him that second and said, ‘Papa, come on, right here.’ I was probably half a mile down my street and I heard everybody in my house go crazy so I sprinted back to my house and rejoiced with them.”

“He was all excited, he was in shock too, and we were both just fired up,” McConnell said. “It was a really cool moment to share with each other.”

The two Huskies-turned-pros would also share the moment with their mentor, head coach Mike Glavine, who took over the helm for Burt’s freshman year four years ago, “You’re proud of all the guys that played for you, and then for those guys that play beyond Northeastern it’s a little more special,” he said. “You want that for them as a coach. To watch

them chase their dream of playing in the big leagues is awesome. We recruited those kids, and we’d like to think we had a small part in their development along the way.”

Glavine recalled what he saw from McConnell and Burt when he made the recruiting trips around Massachusetts. The two had different paths to becoming Huskies, but similar in their potential to be real assets on the diamond.

“Charlie was a little more advanced than Max was offensively in high school, and Max was a little more advanced defensively,” Glavine remembered. “Different styles of players, but overall the biggest thing for me was how hard they played the game. I definitely thought they had the chance to be impact players at the college level, and then once you get them on campus for their freshman year, that’s when you say, these guys have a chance to play beyond college

Y JOB baseball.”

McConnell, drafted after his junior season at Northeastern, was a utilityman with a knack for impacting the game no matter his position on the field. A top of the order sparkplug, he combined hitting and speed to produce a .306/.388/.420 slash line over his three seasons. He swiped an incredible 76 bags, caught only six times.

Glavine remembers McConnell for his laid-back style of leadership, always keeping the clubhouse energized after a more timid freshman year.

“Sophomore year he came out of his shell — he has one of those personalities that can take over the team. He always kept everything light when it was a tough moment or when I wasn’t happy with the guys, he was always able to keep everything loose.”

Burt, on the other hand, was leader-by-example from day one. A two-time captain, Burt’s leadership

had a profound effect not only on his teammates, but also on the coaching staff.

“Not many guys get that honor,” Glavine said, referring to Burt’s two-time captainship. “He obviously had the respect of his teammates and the coaching staff.”

As Glavine speaks highly of his former players, McConnell said his success is due partly to the Northeastern staff. ““I’m forever grateful. I’ve really matured a lot and learned about the game from Coach Glavine, Coach [Kevin] Casey, Coach [Kevin] Cobb, Coach [Steve] Englert from my freshman year,” he said. “It was just an unbelievable experience having those guys mentor me, and watching myself mature over the years, I’m just forever thankful for them and the opportunity they gave me.”

He was stalwart at shortstop for his Husky tenure, even taking home the CAA Defensive Player of the Year award in 2017. Burt always led with the glove, but managed to provide some value in other ways with 60 extra-base hits and 33 stolen bases.

While joining the ranks of professional baseball was a lifelong dream for Burt and McConnell, they acknowledged that the lifestyle tests their love of the game.

“There’s no other way to put it other than it’s just a grind,” Burt said.

“If you don’t love this sport, you’ll never last. All the bus trips and the hotels — it’s a grind. But at the end of the day, I’m getting paid to play the game I love.”

Now that the 2018 baseball season is in the books, Burt traded in the bright stadium lights for the fluorescent lights

of Snell Library. Despite his new occupation, finishing out his business degree at Northeastern is equally as important as achieving his baseball dream.

“That’s going to be a big accomplishment of mine, something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Burt said. “Once this is done, it’s just going to be getting ready for my day job, which is baseball.”

McConnell voiced a similar sentiment, not ready to give up on the academic journey he began three years ago.

“I’m going to try and come back, either next fall, or whenever I’m home,” he said. “I’ve got to figure it out, but it’s something I’m planning on doing.”

Glavine, getting ready for his fifth season as head coach, loved having his two former players back on campus.

He made sure they got involved in practices, hoping they would impact the new freshman class.

“I want them around, I want them at practice rubbing off on the freshmen and continuing that friendship they have with their former teammates,” Glavine said. “I don’t take it for granted. I remember saying multiple times last year to the coaching staff, we’re really going to miss these guys.”

Most of all, Glavine will miss seeing Burt and McConnell walk through the Cabot Center doors everyday.

“You miss being around them and practicing with them and joking around with them, and really going through the grind with them,” Glavine said. “Long term, they have a lasting impact on the team, on the current guys, and especially on the coaching staff, because those are the types of players we want here at this program.”

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PHOTOS

AUTUMN ON HUNTINGTON By: Photo Director Brian Bae PHOTOGRAPHs BY BRIAN BAE and alex melagrano

20 minutes into the Maddogs Club Rugby game versus Boston University, Alex Melagrano and I were soaking wet, freezing to death and still very confused with the rules of rugby. As we tried to wipe the water off the front of our lenses with our numb fingers, I had some doubt as to why I was at my fifth game this week — freezing to death. Then I looked up and saw the scoreboard: we were up by 20 points and crushing BU. Dan Munch’s double overtime header against Holy Cross, Amy Piccolo’s emotional win in her PR-setting 800m race, Shannon Todd’s buzzer-beating 3 versus Massachusetts, really any of the volleyball teams celebrations, Mia Brown’s game-winning goal against Boston College and all of Aerin Frankel’s acrobatic diving saves — that’s why I do it.

Pictured on the left are six of my favorites out of 40,000 photos our staff took this semester, and I hope you enjoy them and the rest of this passion project that is the Red & Black.

I hope that our photos captivate not only you but the rest of the Northeastern community, and as our editors Jenna and Jake said it best: “If we can fill one more seat, add one more cheer to the crowd, we’ve done our job.”

P.S. Thank you athletes for letting us into your little bubbles to capture the amazing things you all do every week. If I could just ask one small favor: please remember to turn towards the camera.

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