By Sarah Metcalf
The Northeastern women’s soccer team pulled out all the stops on Sunday, allowing them to improve their record to 3-3 with a come-from-behind 4-1 win over St. Bonaventure at Parsons Field.
Junior captain Liz Dyjak scored twice and notched two assists, while freshman midfielder Kristin Kowalik scored two goals, the second game this season she has put points on the board. St. Bonaventure player, Heather MacDougall, tallied for the Bonnies.
“I thought we came out a bit flat, and I don’t know why, which was a bit disappointing,” said Coach Ed Matz. “In any sport, early points are always disappointing, but we picked it up in the second half and created some scoring chances. We were able to adjust some things at halftime and switch some players around. We have a lot of interchangable players, so if we’re not effective in one setup, we have that option of switching people position-wise. And it’s always pleasing to see four goals in a half.”
Dyjak scored the first goal of the game for the Huskies when Jen North was fouled in front of the net. Dyjak buried the resulting penalty kick past St. Bonaventure keeper Courtney Nelson in the 49th minute. Dyjak also scored the game-winner at the 68:57 mark, when Emma Enstrom sent a nice cross right by the goal and she deflected it in.
“I was nervous about the penalty kick because I knew it’d be a turning point for us,” said Dyjak. “We weren’t finishing opportunities in the first half. The second goal was about being in the right place at the right time. In the second half, people started making runs at the right time and anticipating each other much better. We picked it up a lot, because it was a game we really didn’t want to lose. We started playing more as a team instead of individuals.”
Kristin Kowalik had her own pair of goals, the first coming in the 75th minute off of a corner kick from Dyjak, which she promptly redirected into the net. Seven minutes later, she fired again, this time into the upper left corner off another feed from Dyjak.
“Kristin puts a lot of pressure on herself,” Matz said, “and she didn’t play up to her standards in the first half. She was frustrated, and she didn’t start the second half, but she came out and scored two goals anyway. She’s a great player, has a lot of skill and always gives 120 percent, but she gets too frustrated sometimes.”
The Huskies had to come from behind after MacDougall had a breakaway up the field and blasted one by NU goalkeeeper Cynthia Slowick. That’s where the Bonnies’ scoring would end, as they were outshot 19-4 during the rest of the game. Nelson had nine saves throughout the contest.
“This game is going to be a positive influence on us,” Matz said. “No matter what, we know we have the ability to score goals in a short period of time. It was good to be able to challenge the team at halftime and see them step up and play more aggressively and with a sense of urgency. Regardless of the score and time on the clock, we know that we can score goals.”
The Huskies’ game against Holy Cross yesterday was postponed and will be played Wednesday at Parsons Field at 3pm. The team will also play Manhattan on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Parsons Field.
