BOSTON — Everything in Tuesday’s matchup versus Harvard seemed to be trending towards a Northeastern loss.
From the start, the Crimson were the superior team physically. They dominated the shot total and corner kick tally, with the possession time skewing largely in their favor.
And yet, despite the struggles, the Huskies’ scrap and late-game magic proved just enough to reign victorious. Fueled by an inspired second-half comeback and graduate student Jacob Marin-Thomson’s game-winning shot with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Northeastern snuck out a 3-2 victory over their crosstown rivals.
“It’s all our mentality. We just gotta keep grinding, moving forward,” Marin-Thomson said. “Coach always told us to never give up… It’s a group of 35 players, and I feel like this is a family.”
The game started off strong for Northeastern. Within the second minute of the match, they won a penalty off of a handball in the goalie box from junior James Fahmy, who got his first start of the season for the Crimson. Graduate student Ryan Massoud tucked the shot away into the bottom right corner of the net.
It took just two minutes for Harvard to respond, as a quick pass from sophomore Alessandro Arlotti at the edge of the box to senior Martin Vician gave the Crimson the opportunity they needed. Vician took a quick step around the Northeastern defense, found a sliver of open space, and powered a shot into the bottom left of the goal to tie the game up at 1-1.
Vician’s speed was punishing to the Northeastern defense all game, as he and fellow Harvard forward, senior Nico Garcia-Morillo, cut their way around Husky players. Northeastern’s center-back pairing, graduate student Ole Kjørholt and junior Fabrizio Cubbedu, were overwhelmed with the physicality and precision of the Crimson front line. With help from sophomore wing-back Kristján Gunnarsson, Harvard tallied a total of 14 corner kicks throughout the entirety of the game, in comparison to Northeastern’s one.
Minutes later, in a deja-vu situation to his last goal, Vician received a pass and stepped into open space to slam a shot into the lower left corner of the net, putting Harvard in the lead in the game’s 19th minute.
Northeastern finally found its spark in graduate student Omar Da Naia, who took to the field in the 32nd minute, and freshman Morris Matthews, who joined play in the 36th minute. Da Naia’s impact was instant, immediately opening up the left side of the field and finally giving Northeastern’s attackers viable opportunities. Matthews’ insertion to the game breathed signs of life into the midfield, adding creativity to the Huskies’ passing that had been greatly lacking all game.
“Some guys came on in the first half and did well, and we stuck with them,” said Northeastern coach Rich Weinrebe. “Morris Matthews really stepped up, that was his first minutes of the year. Omar Da Naia’s finally healthy, so we decided, ‘Okay, we’re gonna ride the hot hand a little bit, get some guys that are hungry for more playing time.’”
The first 30 minutes of the second half saw much more even play between the two sides, as Northeastern upped their physicality by a large margin. After only committing one foul in the entirety of the first half, that number jumped up to nine by the end of the match.
After the Huskies struggled to translate their improved play itno better scoring chances, they finally broke through with 11 minutes remaining in the second half. Graduate student Arhiá Simons’ free kick took a quirky bounce, which completely baffled Harvard goalkeeper Oskar Nilsson and just snuck by him tie the game at 2-2.
Northeastern’s defense gained an immense amount of confidence throughout the second half, with the star of the show being Cubeddu. The veteran defender was everywhere on the field, seemingly singlehandedly halting the Harvard attack in its tracks.
“[Cubeddu] is an absolute warrior,” Weinrebe said. “We kind of knew that about him when we were looking to bring him in. He just does all the things that don’t really show up on the stat sheet. He puts his body on the line, he’s a team-first guy, and he’s done a great job for us.”
The seconds ticked down in the final minute of play as the Huskies made one final push for the win. A few clean passes through the middle of the field put the ball at the feet of graduate student Jacob Marin-Thomson, who had given himself just enough space to take the shot.
Silence took hold as Marin-Thomson’s shot sailed through the air. The ball curled its way towards the top corner of the net, struck the bottom of the crossbar, and bounced in with exactly 30 seconds of play remaining, giving the Spaniard the game-winner.
“It felt like everything stopped,” Weinrebe said about the moment. “I haven’t jumped around like that in a long time.”
Northeastern showed immense levels of heart throughout the game and saw the match all the way through to the end, with their toughness proving to be victorious — a good sign of what’s to come this season, even when not always playing at their best.
The Huskies’ upcoming three-game road trip will kick off Saturday at 7 p.m. against Hofstra. Stay tuned to WRBB for coverage following the action.