The rain — and the Hampton University Pirates (0-13-0, 0-7 CAA) — had nothing on the Northeastern women’s soccer team (5-3-4, 3-1-3 CAA) Sunday afternoon. The Huskies put on a show with a strong display of crafty scoring and passing, defeating the Pirates 10-0, a program record for goals scored in a match.
Prior to the game, Northeastern celebrated Senior Day by welcoming each senior player onto the field hand-in-hand with family members. Coaches presented them with flowers and congratulated the upperclassmen for their immense dedication to the Northeastern soccer program. The team’s underclassmen were the seniors’ biggest cheerleaders, enthusiastically celebrating their graduating teammates.
This spirit and enthusiasm carried into the game as the Huskies attacked aggressively from the beginning. Immediately commanding offensive control, sophomore forward Lauren Ahles sent a pass to fellow sophomore forward Maggie Cochran, who struck the ball with precision into the bottom left of the net, her first career goal, putting Northeastern up 1-0 in the fifth minute.
Not even a minute later, sophomore forward Vivian Akyriem dribbled the ball down the field, looking for Ahles. Under pressure, Akyriem passed the ball with accuracy to Ahles, who shot it into the left of the net. Within the first five minutes, Northeastern dominated uncontestedly, now up 2-0.
The Huskies continued gaining momentum. Multiple players experienced breakthroughs, including sophomore midfielder Lauren Dupont. In the ninth minute, senior midfielder Jessie Hunt drove the ball to Dupont, who managed to strike the ball past Pirates sophomore goalkeeper Alexis Deveaux and score the Huskies their third goal and her first of the season.
The crowd was on the edge of their seats anytime Cochran had possession of the ball. In the thirteenth minute, Akyriem sent a pass to Cochran, who drove the ball to the endline and sent it into the middle of the goal for her second of the game. Her teammates enthusiastically cheered her on from the sidelines, excited by Cochran’s performance thus far.
The Pirates focused on executing stronger defensive plays as the half continued, stopping multiple attempts on goal from Hunt, but it was not enough.
The Pirates were unable to stop Akyriem as she fired a cross to junior forward Meghan Putvinski, who jumped for a header. Putvinski struck the flying ball into the top of the net, putting Northeastern up 5-0 in the 26th minute. This was Akyriem’s third assist of the match, tying the program record for most assists in a single game.
The Huskies didn’t stop there. Not even a minute later, freshman defender Maddie Aughe struck a cross into the box, connecting with Hunt. Maneuvering around a defender, Hunt kicked a long shot into the left side of the box and scored, tying the Northeastern program record for most goals in a game with six total.
In the 27th minute, Northeastern earned a penalty after Pirates senior forward Maya Martir fouled Akyriem in the box as she was driving the ball towards the goal. Representing the seniors, Hunt delivered with the free kick into the back left of the net, breaking Northeastern’s program record just a minute after matching it.
Even with a seven-point lead, the Huskies still had more to give.
With five minutes left in the first half, Putvinski sent the ball to Cochran, who outran a defender to drive the ball into the back of the net. Coming into the game with no collegiate points, Cochran earned a hat trick, the seventh player in program history to do so, in just the first half. She was named CAA Offensive Player of the Week following the match.
The scoreboard spoke for itself as the first half ended 8-0. The Huskies dominated possession of the ball, leaving the Pirates with no shots on goal going into the second half.
The Pirates came back to the pitch more united, executing strong defensive plays, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the Huskies. In the 49th minute, just four minutes into the half, senior Rose Kaefer executed a cross toward Dupont. Dupont set up the ball for Ahles, who got in front of the Pirates defender and delivered the goal into the bottom corner of the net. Now with four goals this season, tied for most on the team, Ahles has continued to prove herself.
As the second half progressed, the Pirates gained a solid defensive hold on the Huskies, keeping them out of the goal for 13 minutes — a long time for Northeastern in this match.
In the 62nd minute, the Pirates tried to clear the zone, but the Huskies found an open space in a combination play between Dupont and senior Gaby Scarlett. Scarlett drove the ball down the right side and sent the ball into the far corner across the goal, potting her first goal of the season.
An offensive and defensive battle waged on for the final 28 minutes of the game, with Pirates’ goalkeeper Deveaux saving 13 shots in total from the Huskies — an impressive finish for the sophomore.
Senior goalkeeper Bianca Resca came in goal for Northeastern in the final 15 minutes of regulation, her team cheering on her Senior Day appearance.
As the game finished on the gloomy Sunday, it was only sunshine for Northeastern. The match not only celebrated seniors but also the underclassmen who stepped up and delivered for the team. Three players notched their first goal of the season, all contributing to the record-breaking game. The Huskies outplayed the Pirates throughout the 10-0 shutout, advancing their season record to 5-2-3 total, 3-0-2 CAA.
Since that game, the Huskies went on the road to compete against two CAA components. After a 1-1 finish versus the Delaware Blue Hens (3-4-5, 0-2-4 CAA) Sept. 28, Northeastern traveled to take on Hofstra (8-3-1, 5-1-1 CAA) Oct. 1, a rematch of the 2022 CAA Championship game that the Pride won 2-1 in overtime. Hofstra outplayed Northeastern 0-1, and the Huskies are now preparing for their matchup against College of Charleston (2-7-3, 2-3-2 CAA) Oct. 5 at Parsons Field.
