The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

Women’s soccer home winning streak comes to an end

Womens+soccer+home+winning+streak+comes+to+an+end

By Erin Merkel, news correspondent

The Huskies’ home winning streak came to an end in a match against the Drexel Dragons. After their first away loss last Thursday against College of Charleston Northeastern struggled to regain their confidence and place their shot on net before playoffs. Scoring early, the Drexel Dragons won 1-0 despite the Huskies having an 11 shot lead.

Northeastern’s fourth-year goalie Nathalie Nidetch had not conceded a goal in their last three games at Parsons Field until this match when Drexel’s first-year forward Lauren Currey scored 30 minutes into the game off an assisted give-and-go from first-year forward Morgan Rees.

The Dragons held consistent possession, leading the Huskies to chase the ball. In the last 20 minutes of regulation, NU finally put pressure on the opposing goal when they relayed shots against Drexel. Unfortunately, none hit the net, leaving NU with its second consecutive loss this CAA season. This is Drexel’s first win against NU out of their last three matches.

Head coach Ashley Phillips hoped for a comeback from last Thursday’s loss.

“I thought after we struggled last weekend, we’d come back with a little life,” Phillips said. “We started well. We made a really stupid mistake that cost us the goal and we had plenty of chances to make it up. We just didn’t find the back of the net tonight.”

Stakes were high with only one game between the match against Drexel and quarterfinals. After a rough first half, the Huskies’ confidence dwindled.

“Our decision-making in our back half wasn’t very good early on and you know when you start to make mistakes, you lose confidence,” Phillips said. “They start to panic a little bit.”

Northeastern ran out of time as they fought to place the ball in the net, ending with a total of 18 shots on goal opposed to Drexel’s seven. Phillips said she wanted to put pressure on Drexel’s net in hopes of capitalizing on a mistake.

“We changed our system a bit, 3-4-3, and tried to push some numbers on them and we did,” Phillips said. “We had chances obviously, but we couldn’t come away with one.”

With Northeastern carrying a 6-2-0 CAA record, Phillips said she believes the players can get their winning streak and confidence back for playoffs. The Huskies are headed to the CAA semifinals, playing winners of the Oct. 26 round next Sunday, Oct. 28 at Parsons Field.

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