By Andrew Parente
The men’s soccer team had a disappointing start in conference play last weekend, dropping two games, one to Old Dominion and the other one William ‘ Mary.
Offensively, the Huskies only tallied one goal in the two games, losing 2-0 to ODU Friday and 2-1 in overtime to W’M Sunday.
Old Dominion got off to a hot start, scoring in the games’ fifth minute.
Sophomore forward Nane Joseph got a head on a corner kick and put it past Northeastern goaltender Mahmoud Talaat.
As the half winded down, Joseph beat Talaat again, scoring off a rebound, making the score 2-0 in the 42nd minute. Sophomore goalie Scott Partridge played the second half in goal for Northeastern.
Talaat tallied three saves before Partridge took over in net. Partridge collected one save in the game.
Despite the loss, senior captain Greg Kilkenny was content with his team’s play.
“I think if you ask them, 2-0 did not reflect how the game went and we should have at least got a point out of this one,” said Kilkenny, who had three shots. “Everyone played well, but we let up a goal early and made it tough on ourselves.”
Northeastern came out strong Sunday, but again was on the wrong end of the score, losing to William ‘ Mary 2-1 in overtime.
The Tribe opened the scoring in the game’s 20th minute when sophomore midfielder Price Thomas capitalized on a mistake from the Husky defense and beat Talaat, making it 1-0. Price stole the ball from a Northeastern defender and dribbled into the box for the shot.
The Huskies controlled the play for the remainder of the half, out shooting the Tribe 8-3, but were unable to get anything in the net.
Northeastern came out strong to start the second half again, and registered their first goal of the game in the 49th minute.
Kilkenny took a shot that was initially blocked by goaltender Andrew McAdams, but senior forward Ahmed Talaat got a head on the rebound, putting it past McAdams to tie the game at 1.
The goal was Talaat’s fourth on the year. He currently leads the Huskies. Kilkenny was credited with his team-leading fifth assist.
There was no more scoring in the second half, and Northeastern found themselves in its first overtime contest of the year.
However, the overtime did not last long, as Tribe senior forward Doug Ernst collected his own rebound and shot it past Talaat to give William ‘ Mary a 2-1 win just two minutes into play.
“We really battled them all game and took the play to them, we just couldn’t get the ball over the line,” Kilkenny said. “When we did score, we were not able to take advantage and put the game away.”
Talaat, who had three saves against the Tribe, now has 31 on the season.
Although the Huskies lost both games this weekend, Kilkenny still has confidence in his team as they continue in conference play.
“If we put an effort out like this every weekend, we will beat a lot of teams no doubt,” he said. “If we can get six points this next weekend, we will be right back in it.”
Last weekend marked the switch in Northeastern’s schedule, as they now only face Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponenents.
The Huskies head into this weekend 2-7 (0-2 CAA). They will take on UNC-Wilmington tomorrow night at Parsons Field at 6 p.m. They host Georgia State Sunday at 1 p.m. before going on a three game road-trip.
