2008 Woodie Awards
Senior Spotlight: Eckhoff takes leadership
Jewel Della Valle
Issue date: 4/11/07 Section: Sports
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The midfielder has been playing field hockey since she was 6 years old, but said now it's time to hang up her cleats in favor of working in international public health or international development.
Eckhoff returned from a three-month journey to Thailand last Wednesday, having spent the last month and a half working at an HIV/AIDS hospice in a Buddhist Temple, after working at a girl's orphanage
"It was pretty intense but very rewarding in other ways," she said.
She's busy making her mark on the world but she's also left a lasting impression on the field hockey field.
She began her collegiate career in 2003, playing in 18 games and starting 10. She was named to the America East All-Rookie team and had her first stint on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association's (NFHCA) Academic squad.
Her sophomore year she started all 22 of the Huskies' games and scored the game-winning penalty stroke against previously undefeated Connecticut, which she said is one of her favorite memories of playing at Northeastern.
"We went down to Connecticut and it's probably one of my least favorite fields in all of the United States, but just every time we go down there it's freezing and the wind is ridiculous," she said. "But we went down there … and we took them to two overtimes and won in overtime strokes. I had never made a stroke in practice and [head coach] Cheryl [Murtagh] put me on the stroking team and I made both. That was probably one of the biggest highlights of my career, definitely top five."
Eckhoff finished the season with three goals and also helped Northeastern to its second straight America East championship.
"I was really lucky to be part of a team that was such a powerhouse in the conference and especially at such a young age," she said. "It was really exciting and I was fortunate enough … to be able to participate in those games."
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