By By Jonathan Raymond, News Staff

If the women’s soccer team’s performance in its first four games against big-conference opponents is any indication, the Huskies could be in line for another landmark season. And thus far they have been playing without their top scorer from last year, sophomore forward Veronica Napoli.
Northeastern hosted Big East member Cincinnati Aug. 30 then strolled down south to face Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foe Clemson and Georgia of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Sept. 4 and 6 as part of its season-opening first four games. The Huskies passed through the gauntlet, which included a season-opening bout with Longwood at Parsons Field Aug. 28, with a solid 3-1 record. The team recorded wins over Longwood 3-0, Cincinnati 2-0 andClemson 2-1 before falling to the No. 18 Bulldogs in a tight 1-0 contest.
‘If you would’ve told me that we were going to be 3-1 having played a team from the SEC, the Big East and the ACC, and Veronica Napoli would not have played more than 40 minutes and not had any goals, I would have been very happy,’ said head coach Ed Matz. ‘So I think that’s where we are early in the season. I’m very pleased with where we are so far.’
The Huskies managed the seven-goal output in the first three games without Napoli, the leading scorer from a year ago and a preseason member of the Hermann Trophy Watch List. The Hermann Trophy is the top individual honor in collegiate soccer.
Freshman forward Devin Petta stepped up in Napoli’s absence and notched both goals in the 2-1 win over Cincinnati and duplicated the feat with a pair of strikes in the Huskies’ defeat of Clemson. In the opening 3-0 defeat of Longwood, three different goal scorers got in on the action, with senior forward and captain Liza Rebello, sophomore midfielder Kelly Matthews and freshman forward Greta Samuelsdottir each finding the back of the net.
The Huskies were also held aloft by a defense which allowed just two goals over the first four games. Sophomore keeper Stephanie Gordon denied both Cincinnati and Longwood a goal, and allowed just one each to Clemson and Georgia.
Matz said he was especially pleased in seeing his team pick up where it left off last season ‘- finishing down the stretch 8-2 in its last 10 games ‘- despite not having all players 100 percent healthy yet.
‘Our defense lost two talented players to graduation, and we were able to bring in two players and not miss a beat; we’ve had two shutouts,’ Matz said. ‘I think our midfield is improved over last year because we brought everybody back and our offense is very, very talented. What’s encouraging for me is they’re not even playing their best yet because they’re not healthy.’
Petta agreed, saying the team has started to really gel remarkably early in the season, and that with full health improvement would come even more rapidly.
‘I would say we’ve actually come together as a team so quickly,’ she said. ‘We’ll continue to be better as a team and each person will get better individually.’
Matz said he expects a number of his key players, including Napoli and Samuelsdottir, who is coming off a July knee injury, to be fully restored to health by the time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play begins Sept. 24 when the Huskies visit Drexel. In the meantime, Matz’s squad will face New Hampshire on the road Friday at 7 p.m. The Wildcats went to the America East championship game last year, but Matz’s biggest priority is making sure his team doesn’t suffer a hangover from a string of games against big-conference opponents.
‘My biggest fear is we’ll have a bit of a letdown after playing Georgia,’ he said. ‘We have to practice hard this week to make sure we don’t have a letdown.’
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