The Northeastern men’s soccer team (1-0-1, 0-0 CAA) defeated the Stonehill College Skyhawks (0-2-0, 0-0 Northeast) 3-1 to seal the first win of the season. 

“When you have a good start, everyone’s mentally more positive and looking forward to everything,” head coach Jeremy Bonomo said. “My job now is to keep everyone level-headed, because conference play is a completely different animal.”

Senior midfielder Morris Matthews had the Huskies’ first scoring chance of the game in the second minute. Senior midfielder Kade Tepe dribbled the ball from half field before playing a through ball to Matthews. Stonehill’s goalkeeper scooped the ball up in the box, ending the threat. 

In the 15th minute, Stonehill senior forward Shane Fonseca took the ball down the left side of the field and broke through Northeastern defenders before firing a shot that was saved by graduate student goalkeeper Tobias Jahn. The rebound fell back to Fonseca, who slotted the ball into the middle of the empty net to put the Skyhawks up 1-0.

The Huskies best scoring chance of the half came in the 28th minute, when Tepe’s shot from inside the 18-yard box was cleared off the goal line by senior defender Colin Hargraves.

Jahn was called into action twice in the first half, making two game changing saves. Jahn first tipped a shot by Fonseca over the bar in the 30th minute. Six minutes later, he made a diving save and put the rebound onto the bar to stay out of danger. 

The first half ended with Northeastern down 1-0. 

The tide quickly changed in the second half thanks to a combined performance by senior defender Jaden Prado and senior forward Fraser Brown.  

“It’s important, as the older guys on the team, to come out and show that losing isn’t really what we want here,” Prado said, “and to come out strong in the second half like the whole team did is a great way to start our season.” 

In the 53rd minute, Brown played the ball to freshman midfielder Will Schmidt, who sent a one-touch pass to Prado. Prado dribbled into the box, stepped around his defender and fired the ball to the bottom right corner of the goal, recording his first goal as a Husky and leveling the score at 1-1.

Two minutes later, senior defender Rohin Kapila’s lob pass found sophomore forward Bryce Flowers, whose side foot volley hit the back of the net to give the Huskies the lead, 2-1. 

Flowers kept rolling, securing a brace in the 69th minute. Matthews received a through ball from junior midfielder Neil Devnani before having his first shot saved. The rebound fell to Flowers, who then slid the ball into the back of the empty net. 

This goal marked Flowers’ third goal in two games and his first three career collegiate goals. 

“I transferred to have a bigger role, and I’m a confident player, and to have [Bonomo] who’s giving me the green light, it makes me play better,” Flowers, a transfer from Penn State University said. 

His teammates had high praise for his performance. 

“I think he’s done well,” Prado said. “Everyone here plays an important part in the success of the team, so it’s important that he wants it as much as everyone else does.” 

Flowers’ two-goal game sealed the Huskies’ 3-1 victory over the Skyhawks. 

“Getting a win and a tie going into conference play is definitely a good start, and hopefully we can continue building from here,” Tepe said. 

Northeastern will take on the Drexel University Dragons (0-1-1, 0-0 CAA) Aug. 30 in the first CAA contest of the season.