By Eoghan Kelly, News Staff
The men’s soccer team overcame one of its slowest starts of the season and beat James Madison University [JMU] 1-0 on Saturday afternoon.
The win extended the team’s home win-streak to 11 games and Northeastern secured second place in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
“It was a game that aesthetically wasn’t so pleasing, but I think it was a real battle,” head coach Brian Ainscough said. “[We] battled hard and we were able to counter what [JMU] did, and I think at the end of the day we probably deserved to win.”
The Dukes (4-5-2, 2-1-1 CAA) dominated the first 20 minutes of the game, preventing the Huskies (7-1-2, 2-0-1 CAA) from maintaining possession and forcing the Northeastern defense back onto its heels.
But JMU failed to convert any opportunities and Husky junior defender Conner Alexander scored the game’s lone goal in the 29th minute to seal the win for Northeastern.
When the ball rolled out of bounds near the JMU end line, junior defender Nikko Lara stepped back nearly 10 yards to take the throw-in. With a running start, Lara swiftly flipped over his hands and hurled the ball into the middle of the 18-yard box.
“Great flip throw-in – best one [Lara] has ever had,” Alexander said. “I wasn’t even expecting it to come, but once I saw that ball up in the air, just headed it back post. Luckily the keeper, it was out of his reach and it went in.”
Alexander said he was in perfect position to head the ball past redshirt-junior Colin Newcity because the team was treating the play like a corner kick.
The goal helped swing momentum in Northeastern’s favor, but the Huskies were silenced for the remainder of the game despite outshooting the Dukes 7-4 in the second half.
Senior goalkeeper Oliver Blum was forced to make only three saves en route to his second shutout of the season, improving his goals against average 0.626 – good for 12th in the country – and earning him CAA Co-Player of the Week honors Monday.
But it didn’t come easily. The Huskies were forced to make a number of pregame and in-game adjustments, Ainscough said, including starting Alexander – a center-back by trade – at left back to combat the size of the JMU lineup. Additionally, he shifted junior midfielder Dante Marini from center to outside midfield and substituted senior midfielder Andre Ciliotta for freshman Terence Carter in the 22nd minute.
JMU brought a furious rush in the final 10 minutes, in which the Dukes used as many as eight attackers at a time and forced Blum to make two crucial saves and fight off a corner kick.
“We have a great back line,” Alexander said. “We’re a very fit team, too, so that really helped us late in the game.”
Northeastern will look to extend their home win-streak to 12 games Wednesday afternoon when it hosts the University of Delaware. Ainscough said the key to winning will be converting on scoring chances and exploiting home-field advantage.
“We think it’s going to be a different game – we’re at home, they have to travel,” Ainscough said. “Home field is a good place for everything.”
