By Jessica Geller, deputy sports editor
The last two Northeastern men’s soccer games at Parsons Field came down to a one-point difference. The 2-1 win on Saturday night against University of Massachusetts (UMass) Lowell went to Northeastern, but Boston University (BU) walked back across the city with the 2-1 win on Tuesday night.
Saturday’s game was scoreless until the 64th minute when UMass Lowell’s sophomore midfielder Wuilito Fernandes scored to give the River Hawks a 1-0 lead.
In just under three minutes, the game turned into a thriller.
As the minutes dwindled down, the rain-soaked field got some much needed Husky offense. Redshirt senior forward Nick Goo passed the ball down the field to freshman midfielder Brad Fountain. From 24 yards out, Fountain shot the ball in the net for his first collegiate goal. Northeastern tied the game 1-1.
Regular time expired and overtime ensued. Fresh off the tying goal, Northeastern had the momentum. Redshirt junior defender Mike Lobben saw open freshman forward Ackim Mpofu down the field within a minute of overtime. Mpofu turned and knocked the ball past a UMass Lowell defender to give Northeastern the winning goal. It was Mpofu’s first Husky goal as Northeastern beat UMass Lowell 2-1.
“In a home game, we expect to win games,” Head Coach Brian Ainscough said. “It was a good character building moment for the boys. It’s a good sign that we are plugging away and not giving up.”
All around, the freshmen influenced the game. Freshman forward Frantzdy Pierrot led the Huskies with six shots on goal. Northeastern had 22 to UMass Lowell’s 11. Goalie Jonathan Thuresson, another freshman, had one save to earn his second win.
“The freshmen are building the team for the future,” senior defender Simon Cox said. “Even towards the end of the season, you are going to see that we are a much better team than we were two, three years ago.”
Crosstown rivals BU and Northeastern played under the lights on Tuesday. The Terriers took an early 1-0 lead in the 16th minute with a goal from senior forward Dominique Badji.
Play started to heat up as the sun fell, and the Huskies looked stronger.
“In the first half, after we gave up the goal, we think we pushed the game and had all the momentum there,” Ainscough said. “We just carried on in the second half and got the goal back.”
After halftime, Northeastern was feisty and ready to pounce on the Terriers. Play was stopped as Cox was fouled, and he got the coveted penalty kick opportunity. Cox easily tied up the game in the 57th minute, 1-1.
BU’s David Amirani kicked the ball through Thuresson’s legs in the 69th minute to score the game winner, putting the Terriers on top 2-1.
“Unfortunately, we gave away not such a good goal,” Ainscough said. “You like to tip your hat when it’s a good, quality goal but I think some of our players would feel that they could have done better defending that goal.”
The referees showed off their whistle-blowing abilities in the final 20 minutes as play was continually stopped.
“We know a lot of the guys, and when you put anyone in competition, they are going to get competitive,” Cox said. “Maybe they were a bit dirty but you can expect that from BU, to be a bit dirty.”
With less than 40 seconds, Northeastern had possession and started to work their way down the field to set up an equalizer. The guys were in position, and the Huskies looked to have a good opportunity, but the ball got away from them.
“Tonight, we had a chance with 13 seconds, so the guys don’t give up,” Ainscough said.
Northeastern is now 2-4 on the season. The Huskies’ next game is Saturday, Sept. 20 at Providence College.
Photo by Ethan Schroeder, Huntington Staff
