By Matt Anastasi & Tim Foley, News Correspondents
For the second year in a row, the women’s soccer team hosted a quarterfinal game in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship. However, unlike last year, their playoff journey will not be cut short – the Huskies ousted the University of Delaware Sunday in an overtime thriller which ended in penalty kicks.
Earlier in the season, the Blue Hens gave the Huskies their first conference loss in a 2-0 shutout, a game which was surely on the minds of the Northeastern women when they met again, this time at home. The Huskies entered the game coming off a stretch of two scoreless matches, and were looking to rekindle their offensive fire against Delaware. Despite four shots from the Husky attack, the offensive struggle to score a goal persisted throughout the first half of play.
Delaware’s Emily Market gave the Husky defense an early scare, when the midfielder unleashed a shot that went just high of the crossbar 21 seconds into the match. The backline was able to hold strong for the remainder of the half though, withstanding two shots on goal from the Blue Hens, both of which junior keeper Paige Burnett saved. All four shots from the Delaware attack came in the first 22 minutes of play. Late in the half, Northeastern saw a number of scoring opportunities, but could not find the back of the net.
“We have to continue to get repetition,” head coach Tracey Leone said. “We have to keep our confidence high, because we’ve been getting some great chances, and hit some posts and some crossbars. We just have to say in sync.”
The second half came with the same level of offensive stagnancy from both sides, with only two shots taken by the Blue Hens. The Husky attack registered seven shots, many of which came late in the half, but failed to convert them into points. With no points on the scoreboard as time expired, the Huskies entered their second overtime game in a row, still in search of a coveted playoff goal.
The first period of extra time came and went without a single shot from the Huskies, and double overtime followed suit.
Only two shots were released by the Blue Hens in extra time, neither of which found their way past Burnett. After 20 scoreless minutes of extra time, the fate of the match would have to be decided by penalty kicks.
“We’ve worked on penalty kicks all conference season,” Burnett said. “We try to make them into games and make it fun.”
After both teams put the first two penalty kicks past the opposing goalie, the Huskies saw a glimmer of hope when Delaware forward Natalie Zelenky’s kick deflected off the post. Northeastern defender Bianca Calderone quickly took advantage of the opportunity, putting the Huskies up 3-2, and two shots later, a missed opportunity by Delaware’s Dianna Marinaro solidified the victory.
The victory was quite a redemptive moment for returning Huskies, having lost to Hofstra University in penalty kicks this time last year.
“Last year we didn’t practice penalty kicks enough,” Leone said. “We weren’t as prepared as we needed to be, so that’s why this year we started practicing them much earlier, and it showed when they stepped up and were confident.”
The team’s ability to learn from its prior mistakes was encouraging, and they will look to correct some offensive problems before Friday’s rematch against the College of William & Mary. Despite the recent scoring drought the Huskies will ride their momentum into the semifinals. After the thrilling victory, Leone was optimistic about the team’s future in the tournament.
“We have to keep the team sharp, and keep ourselves in a rhythm,” Leone said. “We’re playing well, possessing the ball and getting good chances, and we have to continue doing that.”
