By: Zach Hayes, News Staff
The men’s soccer team wrapped up non-conference play with a 1-0 loss to the Providence Friars at Parsons Field Tuesday night, a defeat that sends the Huskies to 2-4-0 overall as conference play begins Saturday.
“You can’t come out flat in any game,” Huskies’ head coach Brian Ainscough said. “We didn’t even come out flat – flat would have been an improvement over how we came out. We were going backwards from the get-go. Typically we don’t come out that slow, but that effort in the first half was painful.”
A Friars goal just three minutes into the contest proved to make the final difference. Friar midfielder Matt Marcin’s strike from the top of the box past sophomore goalkeeper Michael Gallagher provided Providence a slim lead the team would not relinquish.
The Huskies generated more scoring chances in the second half. In the 56th minute, freshman midfielder Dante Marini set up senior forward Nick Leuders for a shot Providence keeper Jhojan Obando blocked. In the 83rd minute, junior forward Mike Kennedy found himself in a one-on-one opportunity, but Obando, who made 10 saves total in the match, thwarted a prime Northeastern scoring chance.
“When we decided to play, you saw how the game went,” Ainscough said. “It was one-way. And even though they’re a tough team to break down, we didn’t have great chances, but we still had a lot of the possession. We had plenty of moments to make something happen.”
Aided by defensive effort by the Huskies that limited Providence to a mere eight shots in the game, Gallagher recovered from the early goal. He finished the match with three saves in his first start of the season.
“Mike played a very good game after that,” Ainscough said. “[He] got some stops and gathered himself in the second half. But it was a little bit too late. We gifted up that goal.”
Northeastern out-shot Providence 19-8 in the game and the Huskies had one final chance for an equalizing goal late in the contest. A Providence foul handed Northeastern a free kick, but the Friars were able to thwart the final chance as time expired.
“It was a frustrating game,” Kennedy said. “We came out flat and they got an early goal. Then after that first 15 minutes I felt like we had the majority of the play and had some quality chances, especially in the second half.”
The Huskies notched a victory late last week, completing a 1-0 shutout at Fairfield Friday night on the heels of a Kennedy goal. The versatile forward, who leads the Huskies in points and shots this season, tallied a game-winning score in the 13th minute on a feed from sophomore forward Don Anding.
“Don [Anding] made a great run down the left then made a great pass to me on the right and I just shot it far corner,” Kennedy said. “It was nice to be playing that game with an early goal.”
Freshman goalkeeper Oliver Blum, who transferred from Providence this season, recorded his second shutout of the season in the winning effort. Coming into Tuesday’s game, Blum’s shutout mark ties him for fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association and he leads the Huskies with a .741 save percentage.
Northeastern’s next contest will be Saturday at 7 p.m. in Richmond, Va., to take on Virginia Commonwealth, the team’s first CAA match of the season. The Huskies’ next home game is Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. against James Madison.
