By Maggie Cassidy
After rocking the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings with a huge 1-0 win over James Madison last week, the women’s soccer team won its second consecutive game at Parsons Field with a 4-1 defeat of Delaware Friday.
Sophomore forward Liza Rebello, who knocked in the game-winner against James Madison, netted two for the Huskies in the Homecoming weekend win over the Blue Hens. Sophomore midfielder Sofia Palmquist and junior midfielder Emilee Ellison netted a goal a piece in the victory.
Head coach Ed Matz said the win showed the team’s strength at Parsons Field, where this season it came up with two wins and two big double-overtime ties, and has dropped just three matches.
“We were able to get the quick start and we could come out with a bunch of energy,” Matz said. “We were able to put Delaware back on their heels.”
Northeastern opened up the scoring when Palmquist hit net 18 seconds into play, running a give-and-go with Rebello down the right side before burying it in the lower left corner.
Ellison netted the first goal of her collegiate career 23 minutes later, getting her foot on a scramble in front of the Delaware box to allow Northeastern to enter the locker room at half time with a 2-0 lead.
Delaware returned in the second half with a vengeance, splitting the Huskies’ lead in half off a Caitlyn Germain tally. Northeastern keeper Annie Petrofsky stopped a shot by Delaware’s Emily Sammis, but couldn’t block Germain’s rebound.
Rebello brought the momentum back to the hosts in the 60th minute, lofting a 20-yard shot into the top right corner for her third goal of the season. She added the cushion four minutes later off a pass from senior defender Hannah Schindler, beating the Blue Hen defense and scoring from 10 yards out.
Northeastern’s defense also held strong throughout, with senior keeper Annie Petrofsky recording 14 saves in the win. Senior defender Laura Johnson was instrumental in shutting down the Delaware attack, Matz said.
“LJ [Johnson] has been very, very consistent all year long,” he said of the co-captain. “She’s been a very strong force for us on defense. She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes back there.”
The win was the injury-plagued Huskies’ fourth of the season and second in CAA play, and raised their goal count from five to nine. Matz said his team was “able to sustain a very high level of play” throughout the game thanks to a successful week of practices that saw many injured players return to training.
“We’ve still got a lot of players playing hurt, but it was good to get a couple of days of practice in as a team,” he said.
Northeastern did not fare as well in Sunday’s match at Drexel, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Dragons. Matz said the game was “a tale of two halves,” with strong winds heavily impacting the game.
Going into the wind in the first half, the Huskies struggled to generate offense. Drexel scored on a corner kick by Kim Chiarelli that “curved right in” to the net, Matz said, deflecting off Petrofsky and into the goal.
Drexel outshot NU 10-2 in the first half, but Northeastern had the advantage in the second half, ending on the better end of a 7-3 shot count. Still, the Huskies couldn’t find the back of the net, wrapping up the weekend at 4-10-3 (2-6-2 CAA).
Matz said he and his team are excited to return to Parsons Field Thursday at 3:30 p.m. for the last game of the season, and Senior Day, against Hofstra, who is 14-3-0 (8-2-0 CAA).
“Hofstra needs to win this game to possibly win the [CAA] championship, but we also need to win this game for our seniors and send them out on a good note. They’ve worked really hard for us throughout the years,” Matz said. “I expect Thursday’s game to be very exciting with neither team backing down.”
