The Northeastern men’s soccer team (3-4-7, 1-3-2 CAA) defeated Dartmouth (5-5-3, 2-1-1 Ivy League) Oct. 15, 4-2, notching its second win of the season.
The Huskies got rolling early in the first half, immediately dominating possession. In the third minute, junior defender Jaden Prado delivered a cross from the left side of the box along the goal line onto the foot of senior forward Ethan Franco. Franco then tapped the ball into the net to put the Huskies ahead 1-0.
Dartmouth was not discouraged by its deficit, and relentlessly looked for opportunities to even the score.
In the sixth minute, Dartmouth sophomore forward Trenton Blake broke away from Northeastern’s defense and crossed the ball into the box. Senior midfielder Phineas Callahan’s shot hit the right post for the Big Green’s first chance of the game.
Blake, once again breaking away from the Huskies’ defense, forced graduate goalkeeper Colby Hegarty to make his first save of the game in the 14th minute.
In the 18th minute, senior forward Sebastian Restrepo played a long, cross field ball to Franco. His low shot was saved by the foot of Dartmouth senior goalkeeper Costi Christodoulou.
The Big Green’s next chance came in the 21st minute. Callahan began a counter attack down the right side of the field following a bad pass by Prado. Callahan was fouled by Prado, but managed to get a pass to freshman forward Eidur Baldvinsson, whose shot missed just wide right of the goal. Prado was assessed a yellow card following the play.
Northeastern junior defender Matty Gardner was dispossessed by Callahan in the 30th minute, resulting in a 1-on-1 with Hegarty. Callahan lifted his shot over Hegarty and into the back of the net to tie the game, 1-1.
But Northeastern didn’t let up.
In the 38th minute, sophomore defender Thomas Vold’s low cross found its way into the box. Sophomore Neil Devnani attempted to capitalize on the cross, but got caught up in the feet of Dartmouth defenders, resulting in a penalty being awarded to the Huskies. Junior forward Fraser Brown stepped up to take the penalty, sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and put Northeastern up 2-1.
The first half concluded with the Huskies in the lead, 2-1, and they came back strong in the second — quickly capitalizing on an offensive opportunity.
Junior midfielder Morris Matthews’ corner into the box fell onto the head of sophomore defender Mathias Hille. The ball got lost amongst the Dartmouth defenders, which allowed senior midfielder Connor Lawlor to tap the ball into the net, extending Northeastern’s lead 3-1 in the 47th.
Five minutes later, Dartmouth freshman defender Panagiotis Karagiorgis’ bad pass was picked up by Restrepo. He broke away from the defenders, but was quickly pressured by the recovering backline. Touching the ball to his left foot, Restrepo shot the ball from outside the 18 yard box, into the top of the net, putting the Huskies up 4-1 in the 52nd minute.
In the 55th minute, Dartmouth junior midfielder Raul Vargas drew a foul on the edge of the box. Callahan stepped up to take the kick, putting the ball in the left side of the net for his second goal of the night, narrowing the gap to 4-2.
The Huskies made one last attempt on goal when Brown took the ball alone into the box, and took a shot at the bottom right side of the net, forcing Christodoulou to make a save in the 75th minute.
Both teams exchanged attacks in the dying minutes of the game, but all attempts were stopped by the defenses, making the final score 4-2.
The Huskies extended their unbeaten streak to six, securing a stellar 6-0 shutout win over CAA rival University of Delaware Oct. 19. Northeastern looks to continue its momentum, traveling to Elon University (8-5-1, 4-2 CAA) Oct. 26.
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