The Northeastern women’s soccer team (4-3-1, 2-1 CAA) is three-quarters of the way through its conference schedule after its 1-0 victory over the Towson Tigers (1-3-2, 1-2 CAA) Saturday evening. Coming off of a 3-0 loss to Hofstra (6-0, 2-0 CAA), the Huskies had to win to have a chance at getting one of the two top spots in the CAA North. 

Senior forward Kayla McCauley’s overtime game-winner put NU’s fate in its own hands as it enters the final stretch of the season. The undefeated Hostra Pride locked up the top seed so the Huskies’ victories over the Tigers and the Delaware Blue Hens were crucial. Now, all that stands in their way are the Drexel Dragons in their final regular-season match.

Against Hofstra last weekend, NU failed to convert on any of their scoring chances, something they have struggled with throughout the season and a point of emphasis from head coach Ashley Phillips in their training sessions.

“We have to stick to us. We have to get the ball down and play at a high tempo. I think we did that in certain moments at Hofstra and then we got away from it and that really hurt us,” Phillips said. “When we have done that we have been successful, and we are going to spend this whole week doing that and getting in front of goal and scoring.”

Despite how the scoreline may appear from their match against Hofstra, NU battled with a squad that has dominated the CAA over the last handful of years. The stout Husky defense buried the Pride for the majority of the first half until Hofstra netted one with three minutes remaining before the break. 

A second goal just ten minutes after the half broke NU’s back, forcing them to play more aggressively and, in the end, giving up a third goal.

“We had some really good chances that we didn’t capitalize on, and they had one that they did, and that just changed everything going into the second half,” Phillips said. “We went down another goal, and we just tried to throw numbers forward. It doesn’t matter if you lose one-nothing, two-nothing or three-nothing–you don’t get any points. We tried to climb ourselves back into it, and it resulted in another goal in the end there.”

The Huskies continued to show their resilience following their disappointing trip to Hempstead, NY. They have not lost back-to-back games once this season.

Facing a must-win game Saturday evening, NU continued their reputation for starting out strong against Towson. The Huskies hammered their feline foes in the first half, sending seven shots on goal and not letting their opponents land a single shot on target.

In the second half, however, as often with this team, the pressure waned. Towson outshot NU 9-3 following the break and for the second consecutive half, quieted the Huskies’ offensive bark. 

This NU team would not be silenced permanently however; few teams can stamp out their ferocity entirely. Nine minutes into the first overtime period, senior forward Chelsea Domond found McCauley, who knocked it past Towson’s freshman goalkeeper Riley Melendez to send the Huskies home smiling. 

The next and final CAA game for NU comes at home against Drexel Sunday, April 4. The Dragons currently only have one conference game under their belt. A Husky win should lock them into second place in the CAA North and give them a shot at redemption against the Pride in the conference tournament.

Before their final conference bout however, NU must face off against Boston College Thursday, April 1. The Huskies had their first game against the Eagles canceled earlier in the season. A win against the crosstown rivals would give all kinds of momentum to this young squad looking to make some noise in the tournament.