By Ricky Popolizio
The Northeastern men’s soccer team failed to reach the postseason for the first time in five years. The Huskies (3-10-3, 2-4-3 AE), who had made it to the America East championship the last three years, watched their chances of a postseason bid diminish before their final regular season game against the Stony Brook University Seahawks (11-5-2, 4-3-2 AE) began Wednesday
“Everybody was pretty upset,” said co-captain Joe Parrish. “From the hotel to the field, nobody said a word.”
Prior to their game Wednesday, the Huskies nervously awaited the results of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and University of Vermont games. The Huskies needed either a UMBC or UVM loss or tie in addition to a victory over Stony Brook to secure the last playoff spot. UMBC and UVM both ended up winning their games.
“I was more prepared than the team was [for the loss],” said NU head coach Ed Matz. “It was a tremendous emotional letdown for us. I don’t think I have ever seen the team that disappointed. Right up until the end, all they wanted to do was get into the playoffs and be able to right everything that went wrong during the regular season. We were playing basically for pride.”
The Huskies came out strong in the first half but quickly found themselves in a 1-0 hole when Chris Scarpati of Stony Brook scored his second goal of the season in the 21st minute.
Anthony Barberio passed to Jose Sura, who found Scarpati for a one-time shot that hit the inside of the left post from five yards out. Right before the goal, defenseman Padraig Tangney was hurt, further troubling an already injured depleted defensive core. The Huskies were already missing two defenders due to injury, including Parrish, going into the game.
Co-captain midfielder Tom Heimreid tied the score at 1-1 for NU on a direct kick from about 20 yards out. With the goal, Heimreid became the team’s scoring leader for the season.
“We were playing well. But it was a must-win game for Stony Brook, and as the game went on, they were pressuring more than us,” Matz said.
The Huskies continued to have chances in the second half. Freshman midfielder Greg Kilkenny failed to score on a great opportunity and Stony Brook took a 2-1 lead in the 88th minute. Anthony Barberio took a cross from Dan Salazar and beat NU goalkeeper Sergio Saccoccio from 25 yards out. The late goal proved to be the game winner, as the Seahawks were able to control the last three minutes of the game.
“This was the culmination of a season that was identical from game one,” Matz said. “We had chances to win the game and were in it for 90 minutes. We don’t capitalize on our chances, and we end up losing.”
The Seahawks out-shot the Huskies 17-11 in the game. Saccoccio made five saves in the loss, and John Moschella stopped five for Stony Brook. The Huskies finished the season with a dismal 3-10-3 record.
“To sum it up, it didn’t go very well at all,” Parrish said. “It was really disappointing. We played hard every game. It just wasn’t our year. We will be a good team the next couple years.”
Matz said he wasn’t surprised the team did not achieve results similar to years past.
“We came into the year knowing it was going to be very difficult. The program is not funded well and it is difficult to win,” Matz said. “We expected to be in every game and hoped we would be able to overcome [the lack of funding], but we couldn’t. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, a lack of heart or a lack of pride, but over the long run, we couldn’t overcompensate for that.”
The Huskies had a league low 2.7 scholarships on the field this year. Several other teams including Boston University, James Madison University and the University of Hartford receive full funding every year. This full funding allows for 9.9 scholarships. “We have to play perfect soccer over 90 minutes to have a chance to win games and that is very difficult to do,” Matz said.
The team will get some money back from the fifth year seniors for next year, but no additional funding will be provided and the Huskies will have to deal with the same 2.7 scholarships they have been given every year.
Matz said while he was disappointed with how the season ended, he was pleased with the way his team went out and played every week. Matz was especially complimentary of the six seniors on the team.
“I feel bad for this senior class,” he said. “They had been to the America East championship the last three years, and I really wanted to take them this year. That was our goal, and I feel bad that we didn’t realize our goal.”
