Jen White-Richardson, Class of 2000, has been inducted into the Northeastern Hall of Fame for excellence in the sport of field hockey.
White, a three-time All-American, helped lead NU to four consecutive conference titles and four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
At Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, she was a legend, winning four letters each in field hockey, basketball, and softball. White captained all three sports and was voted All-Conference in all three sports. In field hockey, she was the Cape Ann League Player of the Year and was both a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic. She was a true “blue chipper” and Husky coach Cheryl Murtagh could not have been happier when she landed at Huntington Ave. in the fall of 1994.
She made an immediate impact on a program which had gone to the NCAA’s three of the last five years and was rich in stars. White’s freshman season, the team went 16-5-1 and 5-1 in the conference. White had three goals for the year and one was a decisive goal to defeat New Hampshire 2-0 in the league title game. In the NCAA Tournament, NU bowed to Boston College 3-2.
Sophomore year her scoring talents blossomed. She had five goals and 21 assists, which led the nation, for a total of 33 points. She was voted All-Conference and second-team All-America. The team went 21-3, 8-0 in the league, and defeated Ball State (2-0) and Iowa (1-0) to make the NCAA Final Four before losing to Maryland (3-1). It was the first season in Husky history that the team won over 20 games.
After the “Cinderella Season” of ’95, there were high hopes for ’96. Behind White, the Huskies did not disappoint, going 18-7 overall and 7-1 in the league. They won the America East title over BU, 4-3 in overtime. In the NCAA Tournament, Northeastern upset UMass 3-0, then UConn 3-1, to advance to the Final Four. There they lost to the eventual national champion, North Carolina, 2-1. White was huge in NCAA play with three goals and an assist. For the year she had 12 goals and 13 assists for 37 points. She again made second-team All-America and was voted to the league All-Tournament team.
Senior season it all came together for White. She had 19 goals and 27 assists for 65 points. The 27 assists and 65 points set NU records. She was voted All-Conference and finally first-team All-America. She received the team’s Pooler Award for team dedication and was the America East Player of the Year. The Huskies went 17-4 overall, 8-0 in the league, but lost in round one of the NCAA Tournament, 1-0, to Ball State.
During the White era, Northeastern went 72-19-2 overall and 28-2 in league play. The Huskies won four conference titles, advanced to the NCAA’s every year and the Final Four twice. In career statistics upon graduation, her 39 goals were good for sixth place in the NU archives, her 144 points second place, and her 63 points in one season, then and still now, first place.
