By Ethan Schroeder, news correspondent
The Northeastern University men’s soccer team was able to clinch a spot in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) postseason tournament with a 2-1 overtime victory against James Madison University (JMU) on Saturday.
The Huskies (7-10-1) entered the week needing positive results in both of their CAA matchups. Last Wednesday, the team traveled to Hempstead, N.Y., to face off against the Hofstra University Pride.
NU junior goalkeeper Dylan Faber was the star of the game in a 0-0 stalemate.
With the two teams combining for 38 total shots, both goalkeepers handled their fair share of work. Northeastern nearly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in 11th minute with a volley from freshman forward Ackim Mpofu. Hofstra countered back with a strike from sophomore midfielder Rory Murphy that Faber was able to get a glove on. The back-and-forth play continued throughout the course of the evening, with Faber and Pride junior goalkeeper Patric Pray pulling off save after save.
Hofstra (10-5-3) outshot Northeastern 24-14, but to no avail. Right up to the final whistle, Faber and company handled everything that came their way. Faber notched 10 saves throughout the match, the most by a Northeastern goalie in eight years. Hofstra created opportunity after opportunity, only to be stifled by Faber.
“We asked Dylan to step up, and he gave us a really big performance,” Head Coach Brian Ainscough said. “He’s been doing wonderfully for us when we’ve needed him to come through.”
The tie against Hofstra set the stage for a Saturday afternoon contest against JMU (7-7-4). On the team’s senior day, Northeastern needed a win or a tie in order to make the CAA playoffs.
Redshirt senior defender Ambry Moss and senior defender Simon Cox, senior midfielder Hamadi Cantave, redshirt senior forward Nick Goo, senior forward Donovan Fayd’Herbe de Maudave and redshirt senior goalkeeper Jacob Aduama were honored in a ceremony before the game.
The JMU Dukes did their best to play the role of spoiler in the matchup. Just six minutes in, redshirt senior forward Jamal Umar tapped in a rebound past Faber. JMU added on eight more shots by the end of the first half, clearly in control.
With the team’s season on the line, the Huskies displayed a sense of urgency moving forward. Fans who braved the rainy weather held their breath as the clock ticked down and Northeastern came up empty-handed on chances well into the second half. The team’s saving grace turned out to be freshman midfielder Brad Fountain. Receiving a pass from Fayd’Herbe de Maudave, Fountain was able to curl in a shot from 20 yards out to even at 1-1.
For the second straight game, the Huskies needed overtime to end the game. Entering the extra period, momentum was on Northeastern’s side. On a day where the team’s seniors were honored, it was a freshman that was able to put the game away. Six minutes into extra time, freshman forward Frantzdy Pierrot guided a header over JMU redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Morton, extending the Huskies’ season.
Fountain and Pierrot’s performances in Saturday’s game show only a glimpse of the potential this season’s freshman class has to offer in the coming years.
“With so many freshmen starting on the team already, there’s only room for us to grow and become more comfortable,” Fountain said. “I think we can be pretty dangerous over the next few years.”
Before looking forward to future seasons, however, the Huskies must focus on the postseason run they have now earned. NU’s 4-3-1 conference record is good enough for the fifth of six seeds in the CAA tournament. They will face off against fourth-seeded Elon University this Saturday in the quarterfinals. Elon defeated Northeastern 5-0 on Oct. 11, but Ainscough is confident that the loss doesn’t speak to NU’s chances in the playoffs.
“A lot of stuff went against us that game, losing four players to injury [in the Elon game],” he said. “We’ve put the result behind us though. I think looking at the teams left in the conference, we have a shot against anybody.”
Photo by Katherine Hinds
