By Matt Anastasi & Tim Foley, News Correspondents
Friday night will mark a first for coach Tracey Leone and her women’s soccer team. After defeating James Madison University 3-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship, the Huskies advanced to the NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 2008 and the first ever under Leone’s leadership.
To advance to the conference final, the Huskies needed penalty kicks for the second straight round, defeating the College of William & Mary Tribe in the semifinals.
The Tribe came out of the gates early when senior Dani Rutter scored 2:35 into the game. Meanwhile, the Huskies started slow, taking just one shot against a stout William & Mary defense, and the Tribe carried the 1-0 advantage into the second half.
Freshman forward Haley Sinclair and senior forward Hanna Terry scored just a minute apart in the 55th and 56th minutes respectively, as the Huskies came roaring out of the break. However, the momentum again shifted to the Tribe when Anna Madden scored to even the game.
“I think we got off to a little bit of a slow start, and let up an early goal but, you know, with the season the way it’s been I think our team has been great and had a great mentality being down a goal, or up a goal,” she said. “We came back in the second half and I think we came back with a fury and I think with just a more confident and composed mindset.
After a scoreless overtime, the game was sent to penalty kicks, where the Huskies didn’t miss a shot, and as a reward advanced to play James Madison in the conference final.
“We go further than 10 deep on our team with PKs so we’re really lucky to have kids that are very good at it and very confident, and we’ve also been practicing a lot,” she said.
This next game, it was the Huskies who started off fast, when in the 18th minute, sophomore forward Morgan Hilby’s shot was saved by the Dukes goalkeeper Ellen Forrest, but the rebound was deposited in the back of the net by redshirt junior midfielder Hannah O’Donnell. However, for the second straight game the opposition answered quickly, when Dukes forward Katie Hyland found the net. The Huskies retook the lead on a Hanna Terry corner kick in the twenty fifth minute when after a deflection, junior forward Lahaina Zoller tapped in the go-ahead goal.
Northeastern carried the 2-1 advantage into the halftime break, outshooting the Dukes eight to one. James Madison rallied furiously in the second half, outshooting the Huskies eight to one, but Husky defense and junior goalkeeper Paige Burnett shut them out. Terry added an insurance goal in the 82nd minute, and the Huskies clinched the championship with a 3-1 victory shortly after. For the team, Leone said every game is different despite having lost to JMU in the regular season.
“It’s a new game, it’s a new day,” Leone said. “You know, soccer’s funny like that. Soccer is about capitalizing on your opportunities, however many or however few you get. Which team capitalizes is the team that will come out on top, so we just kept doing a lot of finishing and our team was great about things knowing we’re earning these chances and we just got to put them away, and we did that in the second one which was great.”
In the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Huskies will face Boston College in Newton on Nov. 15.
Leone was excited about the chance to play for a national championship.
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” she said. “We know how good BC is, they’ve been great for a long time. We played them last year, but we’re just excited about the opportunity, excited for our players to get the chance to compete in the field of 64 for a national championship. I think it’s such an incredible honor, and we feel very blessed to have that opportunity.”
Boston College bounced the Huskies from the tournament in 2008, 4-0. Last year, the Huskies were defeated during the regular season by the Eagles 2-0. Should the Huskies advance, they will likely play national powerhouse, Nebraska.
The Huskies travel to Commonwealth Avenue to battle the Eagles Friday at 7 p.m.
