The Northeastern men’s soccer team (1-3-3, 0-2 CAA) tied the Harvard Crimson (0-1-3, 0-0 Ivy League) Sept. 17, 0-0. Both the Crimson and the Huskies looked to bounce back from Sept. 14 losses, but despite strong offensive efforts by both teams, the match fell to a scoreless draw.
The Huskies started off strong in the early minutes of the opening half, moving the ball well and looking for offensive opportunities. Northeastern maintained possession in the opening 10 minutes, keeping the ball in Harvard’s attacking third.
The game picked up in physicality, the teams battling back-and-forth as they fought to get on the scoreboard.
The Huskies’ first dangerous look on goal came in the tenth minute, when freshman forward Tomas Sciarra’s shot hit the right post for the Huskies’ first scoring chance. Sciarra was named CAA rookie of the week after notching a five-point performance in his first career start against Merrimack Sept. 10.
Junior midfielder Fraser Brown recorded Northeastern’s first shot on goal — which was saved by Harvard’s junior goalkeeper Cullen MacNeil for his first of five saves — in the 11th minute.
The Crimson brought the heat as well, making their own offensive plays. In the 16th minute, it was Harvard’s turn to strike the woodwork off of junior defender Zachary Sardi-Santos’ shot. Sardi-Santos took another chance on net in the 20th minute, forcing Northeastern graduate goalkeeper Colby Hegarty to come up with his first save of the night.
Both the Crimson and the Huskies had a strong defensive game in the first half, allowing just seven and five shots respectively.
The Huskies’ kept up their momentum in the second half, outshooting the Crimson six to three and creating their best scoring chances of the game. Northeastern’s defenders had a strong second half, allowing only three shots and keeping Hegarty from having to make any saves.
Northeastern graduate midfielder Harry Sankey nearly put the Huskies on the board in the 70th minute. Sankey broke away from the Crimson’s defense, resulting in a one-on-one with Harvard’s goalkeeper. Sankey was able to get a shot off, but MacNeil dove on the ball to make a pivotal save.
In the 86th minute, a cross came into the box onto the head of Northeastern senior Sebastian Restrepo, who was waiting on the back post, presenting the Huskies’ best scoring chance of the game. The ball was cleared off of the goal line by the MacNeil. There were pleas for a goal by Northeastern, but the referee ultimately signaled that the ball had not fully crossed the goal line.
As time ticked down, tensions flared. In the 83rd minute, Northeastern senior midfielder Connor Lawlor was issued a yellow card. As Harvard continued to threaten offensively in the dying minutes, Harvard’s sophomore forward Andreas Savva was fouled by freshman defender Ethan Leary, resulting in referees assessing a yellow card to the Husky. With ten seconds remaining, and a still scoreless draw, senior forward Griffin Polinsky appeared to get in a disagreement with the referee — resulting in another Northeastern yellow card in the final minutes.
The Crimson’s free kick was not a threat — the ball was cleared easily by the Huskies’ defense and the whistle was blown for full time.
Despite strong efforts, and some offensive opportunities from both sides of the field, neither Northeastern nor Harvard were able to clinch the victory.
The Huskies look to pick up their first CAA victory against William & Mary on Saturday, Sept. 21.
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