By Eoghan Kelly, News Staff
The men’s soccer team’s loss in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) quarterfinal contest against the University of Delaware Nov. 10 was a microcosm of the squad’s entire season.
In 2011, the Huskies were the ones who always stuck around. Even in the grimmest of circumstances, like conceding an early, momentum-stealing goal—a recurring trend throughout the season—or going toe-to-toe with starkly favored opponents, the Huskies almost always managed to give themselves an opportunity to win.
“I thought that was one of the strengths of the team. We were very resilient,” junior keeper Oliver Blum said, attributing the Huskies’ mental fortitude to the locker room atmosphere created by the team’s seniors. “That’s one of the things [the seniors] worked on this year, having us never give up, having that ‘never die’ attitude.”
That same attitude was what helped propel Northeastern to its fifth postseason berth in six years. Even in their first-round meeting with Delaware, the players’ collective resiliency continued to shine through their play.
The Huskies hung around for 110 minutes, despite being outshot (19-10, including 16-2 after the first half), facing relentless pressure in their defensive third and playing a man down for the final six minutes of the match following sophomore forward Ricardo McDonald’s red card in the 104th minute.
After a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods, the match advanced to penalty kicks to decide the winner.
Senior defender and co-captain Ryan Burnham said the Huskies had once again put themselves in position to earn a victory by remaining strong in their own end.
“Our back line has just grown a lot,” Burnham said. “Me, personally, I was fighting for the last game of my life, so I had nothing else to lose. The other defenders did unbelievable in shutting down their key players. Although [Delaware] had chances, they didn’t have any real threatening chances. It was a battle that we made it through.”
But when sophomore midfielder Karl Rumph approached the penalty spot in the sixth round, Northeastern’s season was hanging in the balance. The two sides traded three goals apiece through five rounds before sophomore defender Prince Nartey stepped up in the sixth and beat Blum to put the Blue Hens back on top, 4-3.
With the season on his foot, Rumph’s take looked promising. He sent senior keeper Kris Devaux diving to the wrong side, and the ball seemed destined for the back of the net. But, at full stretch, Devaux managed to stop the shot with the toe of his cleat and keep the ball from crossing the goal line.
And just like that, it was all over. The Blue Hens (12-5-4, 6-4-1 CAA) hung on to end Northeastern’s season in thrilling fashion and advanced to the CAA semifinals with a 0-0 (4-3 penalty kicks) victory.
“It’s one of the worst ways to lose,” Blum said. “There just has to be a little bit of luck involved. We were unlucky not to do better. There’s no one really to blame on PKs. It’s just how it happens – It’s just tough and not the way anyone wants to lose.”
Once again, the Huskies (10-6-3, 6-4-2 CAA) were close. But, for one final time in 2011, their best efforts weren’t enough.
The Huskies came out roaring in the opening 45 minutes, producing eight of their 10 shots for the game and forcing Devaux to make four crucial saves. But their offense was overpowered for the remainder of the match as the Blue Hens poured the pressure on Northeastern’s back line and pressed Blum to make seven saves over the course of the second half and overtime.
Ainscough said even though the Huskies continued to produce scoring chances, their attack was slowed in the final half of regulation and both overtime periods due in large part to junior forward Don Anding being forced to leave the match with an injury in the 33rd minute.
“Don was having a terrific game in the first half,” Ainscough said. “After we lost Don, it took a little wind out of our sails, so when he went out I think the players felt it a little bit.”
But Burnham said that without Blum’s performance, the match would not have even gone to penalty kicks.
“I’ve always trusted Olly [Blum] in the back,” Burnham said. “He’s an unbelievable goalie. He came up with a lot of big saves that gave us an opportunity to win it in PKs, and even made a few huge saves in PKs. He’s going to be really good next year and he had an unbelievable year this year.”
Delaware escaped its semifinal match-up with No. 1 seed James Madison University Nov. 11, edging the Dukes 2-2 (5-4) to earn a date with Old Dominion
University (ODU) in the CAA championship game Sunday. The Blue Hens upset ODU 2-1 to earn the CAA title.
Blum said that the Huskies were left with a sour taste in their mouths knowing that Delaware went on to win it all.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Blum said. “After the game, you want [Delaware] to win because you want to be like, you ‘lost to the best.’ But it almost makes it hurt a little bit more knowing that they were the best and that’s how close you were. It’s really tough.”
Ainscough said despite a disappointing finish, the 2011 season was one that the Huskies will look to build upon in 2012.
“Every season is a season that you can learn from,” he said. “But we’ve got a long way to go to buckle down if we want to become the best team in our league.”
