By James Duffy, sports editor
The Northeastern University (NU) women’s soccer team continued to struggle with consistency last week, dominating the College of the Holy Cross on Thursday, Sept. 8, before losing a close match to Boston College (BC) on Sunday, Sept. 11.
“We played really well in both games,” Northeastern head coach Ashley Phillips said. “Obviously against Holy Cross we played a full 90 minutes.”
Against the Crusaders, NU came on strong in a 4-0 victory at Parsons Field. Junior forward Kayla Cappuzzo scored her first two goals of the season in the first half, and junior midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo and sophomore forward Hannah Rosenblatt added second-half scores. The goals were Lopiccolo’s first of the season and Rosenblatt’s third.
“When we start to have kids [who] we depend on to score goals getting their first or second of the season, that can build their confidence,” Phillips said.
Against BC, the Huskies lost in heartbreaking fashion. The game was scoreless until NU senior midfielder Breeana Koemans found the back of the net at the 63rd minute, giving NU a 1-0 lead. However, in the 90th and final minute of regulation, BC was able to tie it up and force overtime.
The game went to two extra periods, and after 101 minutes of play, BC senior forward McKenzie Meehan found the back of the net with a header to end the game. The Huskies were mere seconds away from a win, but instead left with a devastating loss.
“Against BC, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but I think we played well,” Phillips said. “I told the girls after the game that I was really proud of the performance and the effort.”
Phillips said the team played more conservatively after taking the lead and fell back onto defense. Despite the outcome, she said there were a lot of positive takeaways.
“It shows how close we are to knocking off teams that are going to be ranked,” she said.
Sophomore goalkeeper Nathalie Nidetch continued her strong play in net. She shut out Holy Cross and made eight saves against BC, bringing her total to 49 on the season which ranks second in the Colonial Athletic Association.
BC is 7-0-1 on the season, and Phillips believes the team will be nationally ranked next week.
Moving forward, the Huskies will aim to improve upon their 3-4-1 record when they travel to Boston University on Thursday, Sept. 15 and host the University of New Hampshire on Sunday, Sept. 18.
Phillips continued to stress player morale as an essential part of the team’s future success.
“[These are] the last few games before we start conference play,” she said. “We’re going to keep working on what we’ve been doing as a team to build our confidence.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics.
