Despite a resurgence in the second half, Northeastern failed to muster enough shots against a stout Yale defense to overcome two early goals, and the Huskies fell to the Bulldogs 2-1.

Fresh off of a dominant 2-0 win versus William and Mary that clinched a CAA Tournament berth, Northeastern (6-7-3, 3-2-2 CAA) looked to continue that momentum at home against Yale (9-2-2, 3-1 IVY) Tuesday. This was the first matchup between these two teams since 1997. The Bulldogs have had a fantastic season, but have shown some cracks lately, losing back-to-back games in overtime, although one of those losses came against No. 17 Maryland.

Unfortunately, the match began with disaster for the Huskies; after a mere seven minutes of action, Yale junior striker Aldo Quevedo ran onto a through ball from freshman defender Sigfus Arnason and buried his shot inside the right post. The goal gave Yale an early 1-0 lead and fueled a strong half for the Bulldogs, as they held overwhelming possession for the majority of the opening 45 minutes.

The Yale defense was allowing less than one goal per game entering this match, and that defensive prowess certainly showed throughout the first half. Both sophomore forward Benjamin Klingen and redshirt freshman forward Timothy Ennin — prolific goal scorers for the Huskies this season — were neutralized by the Yale back line.

Though possession improved when junior forward Alec Supinski and freshman forward Jacques Baldwin entered the game with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Yale remained extremely effective in their defensive third. Northeastern failed to register a shot on target in the entire first half.

In the 28th minute, Yale won a 50/50 ball just inside the Northeastern 18, leading to an open shot for the Bulldogs. Though it was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Chandler Cree, it was emblematic of a big issue for the Huskies in this first half: a lack of urgency. Yale seemed to win the majority of loose balls, and were quicker to anticipate passes and deflections, while Northeastern defenders seemed to be reacting and backing off rather than anticipating.

The Huskies came out of the locker room in a fog despite a small resurgence in the final minutes of the first half. In the first 30 seconds of action in the second half, Yale was again able to break through. A deep ball played from the Yale back line allowed freshman striker Eric Lagos to beat NU sophomore defender Jack Monte, and Huskies’ keeper Cree made a late charge that allowed Lagos to chip the ball over his head and put the Bulldogs up 2-0.

The Huskies responded quickly, however. After a foul near midfield, freshman defender Bernardo Gracindo played a ball into the box that deflected out towards the 18. Sophomore Jacob Marin-Thomson was waiting, and the midfielder calmly took a touch before firing his shot into the top right corner, drawing the Huskies within one in the 47th minute. The goal was Marin-Thomson’s first of the year and first as a Husky, and gave hope to a Husky team that looked completely demoralized minutes earlier.

Contrary to the first half, NU made many of the organized offensive attacks, whereas Yale relied mostly on quick transition offense. Though these pushes kept the ball within Yale’s half, shots were again hard to come by, as the Huskies only mustered two in the half.

The two teams traded blows throughout a choppy half that was broken up by a number of fouls, cards and stoppages. Though NU could not break through the sturdy Yale back line a second time, the team shook off a shaky first half and showed quite a bit of heart in the 2-1 loss. The ball movement from defense to offense improved greatly as the match progressed, and the Huskies showed poise in a game that easily could have gotten away from them when they went down by two goals.

Northeastern will look to bounce back this Saturday at 7 pm against CAA rival Hofstra (7-6-2, 4-2-1 CAA).