By Andrew Parente
A slow start plagued the Huskies as the women’s soccer team dropped a 2-1 decision to the host Harvard Crimson Wednesday afternoon in overtime.
Northeastern, which has now lost two straight games, got off to a slow start in the first half and only managed six shots compared to Harvard’s 12.
Head coach Ed Matz compared the loss to the Huskies’ 1-0 defeat at the hands of Boston University Sunday.
“This game started out a lot like the BU game,” Matz said. “I thought we came out weak in the first half, as seen by the amount of shots we had.”
The Crimson struck first in the 34th minute when senior forward Erin Wylie took a pass from sophomore forward Katherine Sheeleigh and shot it off the hands of Huskies freshman goalie Stephanie Gordon into the net.
NU had a chance in the 43rd minute when senior midfielder Kelsey O’Rourke broke away from the Harvard defense. However, she was ruled offside and the Huskies went into halftime down 1-0.
The second half was a different story as Northeastern came out stronger and was able to break through for the game-tying goal. Freshman forward Veronica Napoli got the ball to junior forward Liza Rebello, who beat Crimson junior goalie Laura Dale to knot the game up at 1.
The goal came in the 56th minute and was Rebello’s fourth of the year, tying her total from last season. The Huskies had several other chances in the second half as they tallied 12 shots.
“We had a really strong turn around the second half,” Matz said. “Veronica made a really nice pass on Liza’s goal and we had several other chances to put the game away.”
The game was tied at the end of 90 minutes and the Huskies went into their third overtime period of the season.
They had been 1-0-1 so far in extra time, but this game did not go the right way for the team.
Harvard senior midfielder Nicole Rhodes took a pass off a cross in the box and buried it into the net at the 98th minute to give the Crimson the 2-1 victory
The Huskies had their chances in overtime but shots from Rebello and freshman defender Kelly Matthews went a bit wide. Northeastern fell to 3-3-1 while Harvard improved to 3-2-1 with the win.
Next up, the Huskies will battle Bryant, a team they saw this past spring but have never played during the regular season. The game is Sunday at 1 p.m. at Parsons Field.
Matz said he hopes the last two games will help aid his team’s chances in their match against the Bulldogs.
“BU and Harvard are two very talented teams and playing them taught us that one mistake can cost us a game,” Matz said. “But we’re very confident playing on our home turf and we’re going into this feeling like we have something to prove.”
Sunday’s game will also be special for sophomore midfielder Brianna Whitehouse as she will be going up against her sister, Kalie.
Kalie Whitehouse is a freshman for Bryant and has started in two of seven games this year and has appeared in the other five.
Brianna Whitehouse has yet to appear in a game for Northeastern this year.
This will be the last tune-up chance before Northeastern begins Colonial Athletic Association play at home against Drexel Friday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
The Huskies are only one win away from matching last year’s win total seven games into the season.
