Northeastern women’s soccer (2-9-7, 2-4-4 CAA) tied the Delaware Blue Hens (6-6-6, 4-2-4 CAA) 1-1 Oct. 27 in their final CAA match of the season. The Huskies dominated in shots and possession, but couldn’t hold their lead for the win.

Northeastern came onto the field with intensity in the opening minutes, putting pressure on the Blue Hens’ defense. The Huskies kept the ball and connected well in Delaware’s half, allowing fifth-year midfielder and captain Jessie Hunt to fire the first shot of the game in the third minute, which found the hands of graduate student goalkeeper Kyla Burns.

Three minutes later, Hunt sent another shot just over the crossbar, and followed it with a great ball into senior forward Avery LeVangie in the box, who couldn’t get a solid touch on it — the ball sailed wide. In the ninth minute, senior defender Natalie Olsen sent a lofted ball into the box for a header from junior forward Maggie Cochran, which was deflected out for a corner.

In the 11th minute, Delaware made it into the Huskies’ defensive third for the first time. The Blue Hens passed around trying to get a shot, but were well defended by Northeastern. The Huskies responded with an opening touch from LeVangie to beat a defender and head down the right sideline, but Burns intercepted it. In the 17th minute, Hunt played long to LeVangie to sprint down the sideline again, but Burns got there first.

As the half progressed, Northeastern continued to dominate possession and keep play in their attacking half, but the Blue Hens started to pick up their pace. Delaware won their first corner in the 23rd minute, which was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Eliza Teplow who came out on top of the scuffle to catch it. Two minutes later, a foul on fifth-year forward Rose Kaefer got Northeastern a free kick near the box, which was taken by Hunt. The kick deflected back to Hunt, who put it in a second time, but the ball flew through the box and went out across the field.

In the 27th minute, Hunt took another shot towards the net, which found the gloves of Burns. A minute later, junior midfielder Ava Nace played a ball into freshman forward Lughano Nyondo, who headed it towards the goal but was stopped again by Burns. Delaware responded with a dangerous ball towards the goal in the 32nd minute, which floated past their attackers in the box. The Blue Hens followed up with a shot from deep on the right sideline, which was punched out with a jumping save from Teplow. 

After more skillful passing sequences around the box, a shot from Nyondo went wide in the 39th minute. Delaware then had a dangerous breakaway from sophomore forward Taisiya Reid, who beat Northeastern’s defensive line and went into a one-on-one with Teplow, but Teplow made a sliding save to deflect the shot with her foot and send the ball out for a corner. The Husky made another great save on the corner, catching the ball in the air before Delaware’s offense could get a header off.

In the 42nd minute, graduate student defender Addison Davis played a ball into the box for a header from senior forward Megan Putvinski, which was saved by Burns. With that final chance, the first half ended at 0-0.

As the second half began, the Blue Hens started to perform better on offense, putting Northeastern’s back line under more pressure. In the 49th minute, Hunt sent a powerful shot into the right side of the net, but Burns dove to catch it. A minute later, LeVangie put another shot just over the crossbar.

In the 64th minute, a misplaced pass from senior midfielder Caitlin St. Leger back to Burns was almost intercepted by Putvinski, but Burns took a touch past her and slid to clear the ball out. A minute later, Putvinski had a near-miss shot that just caught the side netting. 

In the 66th minute, a free kick from graduate student defender Faith Rosenblatt soared into Burns’ hands. Three minutes later, Hunt dribbled around two defenders to get a shot on goal, but it went high over the frame. Delaware responded with a through ball to freshman defender Ava Sallee in the box, but Northeastern defense came together to prevent the shot.

In the 74th minute, Hunt sent a diagonal ball into Putvinski at the top of the box, but Burns came off her line to get to it. In the 78th minute, Hunt played a splitting ball into LeVangie, which was saved by Burns, who came off her line again to challenge LeVangie before she could turn for the shot.

In the 84th minute, Davis sent a floating ball into the box, which missed two attackers looking for a header in the box, but instead found sophomore forward Juliana Garcia across the field, who placed a beautiful shot into the upper right corner to put the Huskies up 1-0. However, the lead was fleeting for Northeastern, and the Blue Hens fought back on a corner in the 86th minute from freshman midfielder Gabby Riley, which ended up ricocheting around the box and into the net by sophomore forward Maggie Groh.

A minute later, LeVangie took a corner for Northeastern, which soared over the box and found Putvinski, who sent it back towards the net but it was cleared out by Delaware. Play grew frantic as both teams tried to tally the winning goal in the final minutes, but neither side found success and the game ended 1-1.

The Huskies’ final record was 2-9-7 in the overall season, and 2-4-4 in the CAA conference. With the draw, Delaware was able to advance as the No. 5 seed to the CAA Women’s Soccer Championship, along with Monmouth, Stony Brook, Elon, Hofstra and Charleston. 

After a tough start to the season with a 14-game streak of ties and losses, Northeastern started to come back with their first win against Drexel Oct. 13. However, without winning the rest of the remaining games, they weren’t able to tally enough points to qualify for the championship. After the Oct. 27 game, Northeastern’s season has officially come to an end.