By Slava Didkovsky

BROOKLINE – Three games in five days finally caught up to the men’s soccer team.

After pulling off two magnificent home victories, the Huskies (3-4-2) travelled to Worcester to take on an undefeated Holy Cross team. Despite playing well in the beginning, Northeastern suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to the Crusaders (6-0).

“We played really well the first 30 minutes, but we didn’t capitalize on our scoring opportunities,” said head coach Ed Matz.

In addition to a tough schedule, the injury to Junior Oumar Thiam was definately one of the contributing factors to the Huskies’ defeat. The injury left the defense vulnerable, as Holy Cross took the lead for good at the 61st minute. Junior forward William Stewart tallied his first goal of the season after intercepting a pass and beating his defender.

The Huskies carried some momentum into the Sunday’s game against Sacred Heart. The last time these two teams met in 1999, the Huskies set the record for the most goals scored with a comfortable 9-0 victory. Sunday NU came close to that margin, upending Holy Cross 5-0.

The Huskies started with its traditional 4-4-2 formation, and dominated the game from the kick-off.

Atha Kirkopoulos, the creative playmaker, did a tremendous job distributing the ball from midfield. In the opening minutes LeRoy Watkins was active on the outside. The Huskies went on the board just after nine minutes. After a perfectly-timed 50 yard through pass by Andrew Hickey, Watkins crossed it into the box, where Mike Cipriano knocked the ball into the net.

About one minute later, the Huskies scored another goal. It was Bennie Prueske, who finished a perfect counter-attack with a well-placed shot. He would pick up his second of the night in the 23rd minute after a pass from Cipriano.

After missing three goals in the first half Sacred Heart tried to compensate for their lack of skill with agressive play. The Huskies retaliated in the best possible way