By Brian Fields, news staff
In the final two games of the regular season, Northeastern University women’s soccer shut down opposing offenses en route to clinching the third seed in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament.
On Thursday, the team’s final home game, the Huskies battled the Towson University Tigers, whose hopes of making the CAA tournament were hanging by a thread, needing to close out the season with two wins in as many games. With the stakes high, the stage was set for a strong performance from both sides, but only the Huskies proved themselves as the aggressor for the entire 90 minutes.
The Huskies’ offense seemed slow out of the gate in the first half, only outshooting the Tigers by a 5-3 margin. However, the offense berated fourth-year goalie Taylor Sebolao and the Tigers’ back line during the second half, registering 24 total shots. In spite of the unreasonably high shot totals, the Huskies were unable to find net in the 90 minutes of regulation, and it took 20 minutes of extra time to determine the outcome.
Both Sebolao and Huskies’ third-year goalkeeper Nathalie Nidetch held down the fort in extra time, with Sebolao fending off her fair share of shots on goal. The game ended in a scoreless draw, despite the Huskies outshooting the Tigers 36-6 for the match.
Fourth-year midfielder Hannah Lopiccolo led the charge with four shots on goal, while fourth-year forward Kayla Cappuzzo, third-year forward Hannah Rosenblatt and first-year forward Chelsea Domond each tallied three shots on net.
“We played extremely well,” said head coach Ashley Phillips. “We certainly missed out on a lot of our opportunities. Over the course of the game, that definitely wore on us and took a lot of the confidence out of us.”
The Huskies journeyed down to Wilmington, North Carolina on Sunday for the final match of the regular season to tackle the Seahawks of the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, or UNCW. In yet another life-or-death match for their opponent, the Huskies played the role of spoiler to ruin postseason chances for their conference rival.
Third-year forward Nicole Gorman opened the scoring for the Red and Black, sending a one-timer off a pretty pass from fourth-year forward Kayla Cappuzzo in the 10th minute of the match. The assist extended Cappuzzo’s school record to 22 career assists.
On the defensive front, Nidetch stopped every ball that came her way, collecting nine saves in the match and her second shutout in as many games. Sunday’s gem brought her to seven shutouts on the season and the Huskies to a 1-0 victory to conclude the regular season.
“We certainly showed a different grit on Sunday,” said Phillips. “[UNCW] are a talented, hardworking team and we stuck through their aggressive, high-tempo play. They went to be fairly direct with us, and it showed a bit of attitude and resiliency in us even though it wasn’t necessarily the prettiest of wins for us.”
Phillips lauded her youthful back line following back-to-back shutout performances.
“The new additions and the young kids have been some of our most consistent players this year, and that just gives [us] hope for down the road,” she said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out, considering we only brought back one real starter from last year. They never shy away from criticism and always look for ways to get better.”
The Huskies now look to begin their journey to repeat as CAA champions and claim their fourth conference title in five years. Phillips mentioned that the experience plays a role in the preparation process.
“We’re lucky the core group has been to the championship often in the past few years,” she said. “Obviously it’s different every year — you play teams that aren’t the same as they were in previous years. We’re in a different position than we were last year. But just knowing that this isn’t a new concept for most of the girls will definitely boost our confidence. They know the tempo of it, they know the hype of it, and in the end it’s just another game. The girls know they just gotta have fun with it.”
Phillips also emphasized the importance of leadership by example when addressing the large amount of tournament novices on the team.
“These younger [players] are going to follow whatever the older [players] do,” Phillips said. “Our team knows that. As long as our older players show up, put in the work in training and show by example, the younger players will follow along.”
The tournament kicks off this Sunday at Parsons Field as the Huskies take on the College of Charleston Cougars in a rematch of a 3-0 Huskies victory earlier in the season.
