In an offensive masterclass, the Northeastern men’s soccer team (3-4-7, 1-3-2 CAA) defeated the Delaware Blue Hens (7-5-2, 2-4-0 CAA) Oct. 19, 6-0.
In the opening 10 minutes of the game, each team possessed the ball and created offensive opportunities, which were shut down by both defenses.
Then, in the 11th minute, the Huskies broke through. Senior forward Ethan Franco played a through ball to senior forward Sebastian Restrepo, who slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the net, giving Northeastern an early 1-0 lead over Delaware.
The Blue Hens looked to even up the score, but Northeastern’s defense held strong. In the 24th minute, Delaware senior forward Sam Donnellan dribbled the ball into Northeastern’s 18-yard box, heading for the goal. Sophomore defender Mathias Hille’s slide tackle prevented Donnellan from advancing and put the ball out of bounds.
The Huskies extended their lead in the 35th minute when freshman midfielder Ethan Kang put a corner kick onto the head of junior forward Fraser Brown, who deflected the ball out to senior midfielder Connor Lawlor to head the ball home on the back post, 2-0.
Northeastern’s momentum kept building, and it continued rolling three minutes later. Sophomore midfielder Neil Devnani possessed the ball on the left side of the field before passing it to Brown, who was waiting at the top of the box and shot the ball into the bottom left of the goal in the 38th minute.
The Huskies ended the first half up 3-0 over the Blue Hens.
Delaware looked to flip the switch in the second half, but continued struggling to find a breakthrough. And Northeastern was not slowing down.
In the 48th minute, Hille ran onto junior midfielder Morris Matthews’ corner, heading the ball home and putting Northeastern up 4-0.
Quickly finding the back of the net again, the Huskies’ fifth goal came in the 51st minute. Franco played a long ball from the left side of the field to senior forward Harry Sankey. The Husky brought the ball into the box before dropping a pass back to Matthews, who put the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.
Sankey attempted to get on the board himself in the 55th minute off a cross from senior midfielder Griffin Polinsky. His volley was saved by Delaware senior goalkeeper Adam Vik and cleared by the defense.
The Blue Hens threatened again in the 58th minute when junior forward Mikey Johnson broke away from the Northeastern defense and took the ball into the box. Another successful slide tackle by Hille kept the ball away from the net and won the Huskies a goal kick.
The Blue Hens’ defense tightened up for the next 30 minutes. The ball went back and forth between the teams, with no real offensive threats from either. In the 70th minute, Lawlor clipped Delaware freshman forward Jaydon Fuller from behind and was assessed a yellow card.
In the 87th minute, the Huskies scored their sixth and final goal of the game. Graduate forward Kevin Ogudugu dribbled the ball up the left side of the field, into the box, around Vik – who had come out of his goal – and passed to Franco to slot into the top right corner of the goal.
The Huskies outshot the Blue Hens 16 to 10. Six goals by six different Huskies earned Northeastern its first CAA victory and a two save performance marked graduate goalkeeper Colby Hegarty’s fourth shutout of the season.
Northeastern will play their final home game of the season Nov. 2 against CAA rivals University of North Carolina Wilmington (4-7-4, 3-3 CAA).
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