The Northeastern men’s soccer team (3-6-3, 1-4-1 CAA) defeated rivals the Boston University Terriers (8-4, 4-1 Patriot League) 3-2 with a last-minute goal Oct. 14.
The Huskies started out on their heels, forcing graduate student goalkeeper Tobias Jahn to make two saves in the opening 10 minutes.
Fouls continued to be an issue — the team committed four fouls in 20 minutes of play. This came to a head in the 19th minute when senior defender Rohin Kapila gave up a free kick on the edge of Northeastern’s 18-yard box. Freshman midfielder Sebastian Otero dropped a pass to the edge of the box to sophomore midfielder Jack Grossman, whose shot deflected off of a Husky and into the back of the net, putting the Terriers up 1-0.
For the next 20 minutes, the teams exchanged eight fouls, and both failed to produce quality scoring chances.
In the 42nd minute, the Huskies found an answer to tie the game at 1-1. Senior midfielder Morris Matthews dribbled the ball through the center of the field before firing a shot from 20 yards outside of the box that was deflected over the head of senior goalkeeper Sheraz Saadat.
Just when it looked like Northeastern had regained control of the match, the Terriers struck again.
One minute into the second half, senior midfielder Diego Rived’s corner fell to sophomore midfielder Pharis Petrica, whose header was kept out by Husky defenders. The rebound fell to senior defender John Roman to slot into the bottom right corner of the net, putting the Terriers up 2-1.
Jahn kept the Huskies in the game for the next 40 minutes, making four key saves. On the Huskies’ offensive front, freshman forward Asiah Carroll and junior midfielder Gus Mendieta were threats, forcing Saadat to make two saves in the same amount of time.
With five minutes to go, freshman midfielder Julius Rüger played a perfectly timed pass over the heads to BU’s back line for junior midfielder Neil Devnani to volley into the back of the net and even the game at 2-2 once again.
The Huskies, with a flair for the dramatics, found a winner with 39 seconds remaining in the match. Devnani first dribbled the ball down the left side of the field before finding freshman midfielder Will Schmidt in the box. Schmidt played a one-touch pass to senior defender Jaden Prado, who crossed the ball back into the box. Sophomore forward Bryce Flowers ran onto the ball and put it under Saadat to give his team the win.
Getting Flowers and Prado involved in this match was essential to the Huskies’ win. Flowers is the team’s leading goal scorer with five goals so far this season. Prado is one of, if not the strongest, players on the back line, and he has been proving this game after game. However, he can also produce offensively and has three assists and a goal to his name. Both of these players are essential to the team’s offense, and it showed against the Terriers.
Northeastern will look to start up a win streak against the Drexel University Dragons (4-3-5, 2-2-1 CAA) at home Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.
