By Noah Greany, news staff
In a season full of ups and downs for the Northeastern men’s soccer team, Senior Day was a moment to step away from soccer for a bit to honor the 2017 graduates. Lewis Aird, Gaku Lange, Ackim Mpofu, Charlton Muhlauri and Jonathan Thuresson were all celebrated prior to kickoff at Parsons Field Saturday afternoon, with the five players combining to make more than 250 appearances in red and black.
Following the ceremony, the match against James Madison University kicked off. The Dukes came out of the gates strong, instantly putting the Huskies under pressure. Northeastern survived until the 29th minute when James Madison’s second-year forward Ben Dao received a pass and was able to find the bottom corner of the net, beating fourth-year goalkeeper Jonathan Thuresson.
The Huskies responded 14 minutes later, with first-year defender Dante Morrissette intercepting a pass near midfield and continuing his run toward the James Madison net. His cross found the path of third-year forward Khori Bennett who made no mistake from six yards out, leveling the match for the Huskies.
They remained dead-locked until the 83rd minute, where the Dukes played spoiler to the Huskies’ Senior Day with a match-winning goal, a shot from the top of the penalty box that slid past the dive of Thuresson.
James Madison was on the front foot for the majority of the match, and while Northeastern held strong for large portions of the match, the Dukes’ pressure was too much to overcome.
Luckily for the Huskies, another midweek match provided an opportunity to bounce back from the loss. The University of Vermont Catamounts made the trip down to Brookline to take on the Huskies in a non-conference matchup [day] at Parsons Field.
Similar to the game against James Madison, the Huskies fell behind early. Vermont forward Jon Arnar Barddal received a short pass and struck his shot first-time, beating first-year goalkeeper Noah Abrams.
The Huskies did not crumble at the sight of seeing the Catamounts score as they have made a recent habit of, and just like Senior Day they responded before the end of the first half.
Third-year midfielder Gerardo Milano won back possession for the Huskies with a well-timed tackle, and immediately sent Bennett free on the left flank. Bennett’s change of pace and skill gave him separation from the Catamount defense, and he was eventually taken down inside the box for a penalty kick.
Bennett took the penalty kick he earned, calmly putting it past the dive of Vermont’s goalkeeper to level the score.
Bennett was again involved in Northeastern’s go-ahead goal in the 68th minute, finding first-year forward Alec Supinski after good work on the left flank. Supinski’s ensuing shot was deflected, however good awareness from first-year forward Dan Munch put him in the right spot at the right time, deftly and skillfully putting the ball into the Catamount net to give the Huskies the lead.
Twenty minutes later, Vermont equalized on a penalty kick of their own after Vermont’s Geo Alves was taken down in the box. Abrams guessed left while the Catamount’s Mikel Kabala went right.
The Huskies were heading into their eighth overtime match of the season, so when the whistle blew to end normal time, there was always a good chance Northeastern would net the game-winner.
For the third time total and second time for the Huskies, the head referee awarded a penalty kick. Munch evaded Vermont’s goalkeeper after a long through ball from Milano, and once Munch was past him he was clipped inside the penalty box.
Bennett again stepped up, and after going to the right side on his first penalty kick, he drove the ball into the bottom left corner, winning the match for the Huskies with sixteen seconds remaining in the first half of extra time.
“I missed a penalty kick early in the season, and I really took the time to learn from it,” Bennett said. “I know I can’t give away my side, and I know I can go to both sides and that’s what I did.”
Both Gbandi and Bennett understand the importance of finishing the season strong, regardless of results from earlier in the year. The Huskies fielded a young team Tuesday night, with many players returning for next year’s campaign.
“Winning breeds confidence,” Gbandi said. “Anytime you can find a win, you have something to build on. It’s a great win for our guys and I’m just so proud of them.”
Despite many games where the floodgates opened after the opponent scored the first goal, the Huskies made an effort to change that script against Vermont.
“This season hasn’t been one that we wanted,” Bennett said. “That has been a common theme we go down a goal and lay down, but today we tried to change that and guys really bought into that.”
The Huskies will close out the regular season on Saturday night in North Carolina against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, hoping to build on Tuesday night’s win and gain some momentum to carry over into 2018.
