By Joseph Rubin
The men’s soccer team ended the first round triumphantly this week, knocking the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (11-8-2) off the road to the NCAA college cup last Saturday evening in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
After completing regulation and two periods of sudden-death overtime tied, 1-1, the combatants proceeded to a shootout, where penalty kicks would determine the victor. After clinging to a 6-6 deadlock in penalty shots, the Huskies (12-7-2), freshman goalie Sergio Saccoccio saved Lehigh’s Brandon Smith’s next shot, giving the visitors an opportunity at a victory. Husky freshman Tom Heimreid hit the winning shot, and moved his teammates to the next round in the process.
“The first half we came out pretty strong, we played with a lot of emotion and went off the game plan a little,” said NU head coach Ed Matz. “They were excited to be there, it was there first time and there was a lot of electricity in the crowd.”
Scoring what at one point many thought would be the only goal of the game was Northeastern senior captain Nate Houghton, who at 57:27 blasted a deep shot into the Lehigh net unassisted for the contest’s first points.
“Lehigh came out a little more physical then we expected, but they were a very good team to play against,” stated Matz.
Coming back strong and physical, Lehigh made their move late in the second half with less than ten minutes left. A pass from Lehigh senior Evan Bruno to Lehigh junior Steve Fisher would tie the game at 1-1. Then just two minutes later, the scare of a lifetime would come when Lehigh appeared to take a 2-1 advantage, but the goal was overruled due to an offsides call on the Mountain Hawks.
“This is a big accomplishment for them, the America East was big, but now they can all say they made it through the first round of the NCAA tournament,” praised Matz.
This is the first time the university’s soccer team has ever made it to the NCAA tournament, let alone pass the first round. They will be playing the Big East champion Boston College Eagles on Wednesday at Chestnut Hill. Starting time for the second round affair is 1 p.m.
