By Andrew Parente
The men’s soccer season came to a disappointing end Tuesday night as the Huskies fell to Virginia Commonwealth in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament 3-1.
With the loss, the Huskies finished the 2007 season with a record of 8-10-1, 6-4-1 in the CAA.
VCU out-shot Northeastern by a count of 20-10, including a 16-3 margin in the second half. Senior captain Greg Kilkenny, who notched NU’s lone goal of the match, said the score didn’t reflect the play.
“Even I know they out-shot us … it was a lot closer than the scoring showed,” he said. “Our bright spots were after that [second] goal we really picked up the game and took it to them. It was a pretty good game all in all. It was some good football and a really tough match. It was just too bad on the second goal.”
The Rams struck first in the 14th minute, in a scramble in front of the net. Jorit Loehr put the ball past Northeastern sophomore keeper Mahmoud Taalat for a 1-0 advantage.
However, the Huskies held strong and were able to net the equalizer in the 33rd minute. Sophomore midfielder Matthew Lanning carried the ball down the left side of the field before crossing it into the box. Kilkenny was there to put a head on the ball and into the net to even the score at one.
As the second half started, the Rams did not waste much time scoring what proved to be the game-clincher. In the 55th minute, junior defenseman Dirk Ditterich got the ball off of a deflection from fellow teammate Peer Jaekel and put it past Taalat to give VCU a 2-1 lead.
“It was a goal that we shouldn’t have let them have,” Kilkenny said.
The Rams continued to control the play for the remainder of the game as Northeastern struggled to get anything going on offense. In the 80th minute, Sven Meusch tacked on an insurance goal. The forward collected a rebound off an initial save by Taalat and headed the ball right back into the goal, which Taalat was not able to get to. The goal made the score 3-1 in favor of the Rams.
The game marked the Huskies’ second consecutive loss in two years in the first round of the playoffs, losing 1-0 to George Mason last year. VCU advances to the semifinals where it will meet Old Dominion in Virginia Beach.
The 2007 season was a strong one for the Huskies, especially at home, where the team posted a 7-1 record. Still, Kilkenny said his team could have achieved more.
“I really think this year, especially, we had a team that could have done a lot of damage, and we didn’t really fulfill that potential. So that’s maybe a little disappointing, but it was a team to be proud of,” he said. “We didn’t do ourselves any favors by not having a good start of the year. We got some lucky breaks and some unlucky breaks, and that’s the way soccer is.”
The Huskies will say goodbye to Kilkenny, midfielder Padraig Tangney and forward Ahmed Taalat, the team’s three seniors.
“It was a lot of ups and downs and a lot of memories, a great school and a great team to be proud of,” Kilkenny said. “It was a fun time.”
Next season, the Huskies will return eight starters, including the defensive core that proved the strong point of the team all season.
– News Staff Maggie Cassidy
contributed to this report
