Northeastern women’s soccer (2-8-6, 2-3-3 CAA) beat the Campbell University Camels (5-8-3, 3-5 CAA) 4-0 Oct. 20 to tally their first home field victory this season. Coming off of their win Oct. 13 against Drexel, the Huskies showed up to continue their streak, looking to turn the season around.
As the first half began, the Huskies immediately applied pressure and possessed in Campbell’s half. The Camels got the first shot of the game in the second minute with a ball from senior forward Kaleigh Backlund that sailed over the crossbar. In the sixth minute, Northeastern geared up for an attack with a skillful touch out of pressure from senior forward Avery LeVangie in the midfield, who then sped down the sideline with the ball but lost it for a goal kick. Campbell fought back three minutes later with a dangerous breakaway from sophomore forward Alyssa Tucker, but it was well defended by graduate student defender Faith Rosenblatt.
In the 10th minute, graduate student defender Addison Davis played a ball into LeVangie, who took a touch past the keeper and slid the ball across the net into the lower right corner, putting Northeastern up 1-0. After this early goal, Northeastern picked up momentum and continued to threaten the Camels’ back line. Fifth-year forward Rose Kaefer crossed the ball to fifth-year midfielder and captain Jessie Hunt to put it into the box for freshman forward Leilani Reed, who shot it over the crossbar. A minute later, graduate student midfielder Bri Jablonowski sent another shot towards the net, landing just above the frame once again.
In the 19th minute, both teams battled for possession in Northeastern’s box, resulting in a shot from Backlund that was deflected out. In the 23rd minute, LeVangie placed another shot low into the right corner of the net, putting Northeastern up 2-0. She was assisted by Hunt, putting the captain at 26 career assists, a program record. Northeastern kept looking to create opportunities, and had some great rapid passing sequences in the box but was consistently cleared out.
In the last 15 minutes, Northeastern continued to get crosses into the box and challenge the Camels’ back line. Junior goalkeeper Sierra Vance had a diving save to intercept a ball into the box, and Hunt played a ball into junior forward Maggie Cochran in the box, but it was shot wide in the 39th minute. Three minutes later, a corner from freshman forward Lughano Nyondo found graduate student defender Jayden Newkirk in the box, who headed it just past the glove of Vance to put Northeastern up 3-0 by the end of the half.
Despite a comfortable lead, Northeastern came out strong in the second half. In the 45th minute, Hunt took a free kick from the goal line, which was narrowly saved by redshirt junior goalkeeper JLo Varada. Northeastern continued to connect cohesively and possess around Campbell, winning key balls out of the air and finding feet at a quick pace. In the 51st minute, Cochran sent a ball from wide on the right sideline to graduate student forward Sofie Fox, who volleyed it past Varada, making the score 4-0.
Five minutes later, Campbell tried to respond with a dangerous through ball towards sophomore goalkeeper Eliza Teplow, but Teplow dove to intercept it. Sophomore midfielder Emely Rubio also sent a cross towards the net that was cleared out by the Huskies. In the 59th minute, Hunt sent a through ball to freshman forward Foluke Balogun that was saved by Varada.
Northeastern had a few more breakaways in the following minutes, but struggled to stay onside. They had 12 offside calls by the end of the game.
In the 75th minute, Northeastern found the back of the net and thought they had a fifth, but were called offside again. In the 81st minute, head coach Ashley Phillips was given a yellow card for talking back to the referee, and a minute later, it escalated to a red card. After eight more minutes of back and forth play, the game ended in a 4-0 win for the Huskies.
This game marks the Huskies’ second win of the year, coming after months of ties and losses. They have only two games left in conference play, and the group looks to continue building this winning mentality.
“They just have to believe in themselves and keep that belief,” Associate Head Coach Alan Goggs said after the game. “It has been that daily commitment and daily grind that has gotten us these last couple results. … We know we have another level, it’s whether we decide to step up to that level, it’s a choice”
The Huskies will look to tally another win away against Stony Brook Oct. 24.
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