Last season, the Northeastern women’s soccer team made it to its second straight CAA title game and knocked off three talented non-conference opponents — UConn, UNH, and BU — during the regular season. This season, the Huskies are changing up their non-conference slate a bit, only playing two New England squads and facing two teams for the first time in program history.
For their conference schedule, the Huskies will play their most regular season CAA games ever. In their previous eight seasons that were not impacted by COVID-19, Northeastern played nine conference matches a year. In the last two years the conference has expanded from 10 teams to 13, and this will be the first full season that the schedule has expanded with it.
Over the next three months, Northeastern will play 17 regular season contests. The following lists the 2023 season schedule in order and provides information on which matchups to keep an eye on.
August
Away – Xavier, Thursday the 17th
The Northeastern women’s soccer team will kick off their 2023 season Aug. 17 in Cincinnati, Ohio. This will be the first matchup ever between the Huskies and the Musketeers. Xavier, an NCAA Tournament team the past two seasons, will be the toughest non-conference opponent for Northeastern all year. While the Huskies will enter as the underdogs, this is one of the best rosters the program has had under head coach Ashley Phillips, and they very well could steal this opening night game on the road.
Away – Holy Cross, Sunday the 20th
Three days after their match in Cincinnati, the Huskies will return East and take the short drive from Boston to Worcester and face off with the Crusaders. Northeastern has not faced Holy Cross since the 2017 season, and the Crusaders have struggled mightily since then. The program is 10-24-7 in Patriot League play over the past five seasons, and has won just three total games over the past two years. Holy Cross does not project to be a better opponent in 2023.
Home – San Jose State, Thursday the 24th
The first home game of Northeastern’s season comes against San Jose State, a school they haven’t faced since 2001. Since then, the Spartans have made it to three NCAA Tournaments, earning bids in 2015, 2018, and 2022. This year however, SJSU will be without reigning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, Jada Wilson. They are however, returning the MW Newcomer of the Year in goalkeeper Bente Pernot, who allowed just 0.88 goals per game last season. While there are more familiar New England squads that the Huskies could have played in their first home game, the Spartans are a top-tier, mid-major program that should provide stiff competition.
Home – Eastern Michigan, Sunday the 27th
After they take on the Spartans, the Huskies will get their first ever matchup against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. Last year, Eastern Michigan went 3-11-4, and 2-7-2 in the Mid-American Conference, but have several promising young players who are returning for this season. Midfielder Maddie O’Farrell was named to the All-MAC Second Team as a sophomore, and midfielder Hannan Thompson was an All-Freshman Team selection.
September
Home – BU, Sunday the 3rd
Anyone looking to catch some college soccer before the first week of classes should look no further than Parsons Field. The Battle for Brookline commences on Sunday, Sep. 3 as Northeastern takes on Boston University at 6 p.m. While the Terriers are ahead in the all-time series, 14-7-1, the Huskies came away with a 1-0 victory last season thanks to an Alexis Legowski goal. With BU coming in at No. 3 in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, this year’s matchup promises to be a tight match once again.
Home – UNCW, Thursday the 7th
Four days after facing BU, Northeastern will play its first CAA game of the season against UNCW. While the two schools didn’t face off last season, they do have a rich history of competition. During the shortened 2021 spring season, the Seahawks surmounted a two-goal deficit in the CAA tournament to knock off the Huskies 3-2. Six months later, Northeastern got their revenge, beating UNCW 1-0 in the conference tournament. Last season was somewhat of a down year for the Seahawks as they went 3-4-2 in CAA play missing out on the postseason. If the Huskies continue on their upward trajectory as expected, they should start off CAA play with a bang against one of their top conference rivals.
Home – Drexel, Sunday the 10th
In the final game of their first homestand of the season, the Huskies will face off with the Dragons on Sep. 10. Phillips has taken three out of her last five matches with Drexel, most recently beating last season’s No. 2 seed in the CAA tournament, 2-0. This year, the Dragons once again look primed to battle with the Huskies for the CAA title. The program is returning both the reigning CAA Attacker of the Year, and CAA Midfielder of the Year in Delaney Lappin and Annalena O’Reilly.
Away – Campbell, Thursday the 14th
On Thursday Sep. 14, Northeastern not only gets its first road conference game of the season, it also gets its first ever matchup with Campbell. The Camels, the newest addition to the CAA, went 6-1-1 in the Big South last year but lost in the conference tournament to High Point. While Campbell will be without Big South Forward of the Year, Jessica Donald, and several other all-conference honorees, Northeastern’s first trip down to Buies Creek will not be an easy one. The Camels are still returning the conference Defender of the Year in Laney Peabody, and an All-Big South midfielder in Reagan Baiotto.
Away – Elon, Sunday the 17th
After their matchup with the Camels on Thursday, the Huskies will stay in North Carolina and face off with the Phoenix on Sunday. Over the past few years Northeastern has struggled against Elon — they’ve lost three straight matchups, including a 2-0 defeat last season in North Carolina. The last time Phillips beat the Phoenix was in 2019. The only Husky still on the roster that played in that game is Alexis Legowski.
Home – Hampton, Sunday the 24th
Following their weekend trip to the South, the Huskies will take on the Pirates. Last year, Northeastern beat Hampton 5-0 in the first ever matchup between the two programs. Last year, Hampton’s first in the CAA, the team went 2-14-1 overall and 0-9 in conference play. Northeastern should once again put up a dominant performance.
Away – Delaware, Thursday the 28th
Just above the Pirates in last season’s CAA standings were the Blue Hens. With just 14 goals, Delaware had the lowest scoring offense in the conferenceNortheastern took the win in the 2022 matchup 3-0 and should be able to grab another win in 2023. The Blue Hens have some talented sophomores returning to the squad, but overall, the roster still isn’t quite where the Huskies’ is.
October
Away – Hofstra, Sunday the 1st
Northeastern has surely been eyeing their rematch with Hofstra since last year’s CAA championship game in November. The Pride have dominated the conference over the last half decade, winning five of the last six CAA titles under head coach Simon Riddiough. Hofstra has been Northeastern’s biggest rival in recent years and last year’s double-overtime victory for the Pride to win the CAA title at Parsons Field has only further entangled the two teams. This will be one of if not the most competitive conference game of Northeastern’s regular season, neither side will hold back.
Home – Charleston, Thursday the 5th
Following their battle with the Pride, the Huskies get to breathe a bit against the Cougars. While Charleston has only beaten Northeastern once in nine total matchups, the Huskies shouldn’t drop their guard too much. The Cougars are returning all three of their All-CAA selections from last season, including First-Team forward Grace Powell, and have improved their season win total in both of the last two seasons.
Away – Monmouth, Sunday the 8th
Last year Monmouth walked into the CAA and grabbed hold of the conference, losing just one regular season conference matchup and winning the regular season title. In the last game of the regular season, the Hawks hammered the Huskies in New Jersey winning 2-1 after taking 13 shots and attempting six corner kicks. For the second year in a row, Northeastern will travel to Monmouth for a late season matchup. This year however, the Hawks will be without reigning CAA Defender of the Year Jesi Rossman, and All-CAA third team forward Lauren Karabin. Despite its losses, Monmouth will still be a tough out particularly at home where they went 8-1-2 last season.
Home – Towson, Sunday the 15th
After facing the Hawks, the Huskies get a week off before their next game against the Tigers. Northeastern hasn’t lost to Towson since 2010 and Phillips is 5-0-2 in her career against the program. Over the past few seasons however, the Tigers have been rising, going from 4-13-1, and 1-8 in CAA play in 2019, to 12-3-5 and 4-1-4 in the conference last season. This year, Towson is returning two All-CAA first teamers and three second team selections from last year’s squad. This promises to be one of the best home games of the season for Northeastern.
Home – Stony Brook, Thursday the 19th
For the second year in a row, Northeastern will face off with Stony Brook at home. This year, the matchup will take place on Oct. 19, the last regular season home game for the Huskies. Last year, Northeastern dropped the Seawolves 3-0 at Parsons Field and also knocked them off in the postseason 2-1 in the opening round.
Away – William & Mary, Sunday the 22nd
In their final game of the regular season, the Huskies will travel to Williamsburg to take on the Tribe. Northeastern currently holds a seven game winning streak over William & Mary, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be an easy out this time around. The Tribe return the reigning CAA Rookie of the Year in midfielder Ivey Crain, who narrowly edged out Huskies forward Vivian Akyirem for the award. While Crain didn’t get a ton of help from her teammates last season, she was still a force to be reckoned with, scoring nine goals and adding six assists as a freshman. Northeastern however, found a way to keep her somewhat quiet, holding her to just two shots and one assist in the 3-2 victory. It would not be a surprise if Akyirem puts an exclamation point on her regular season by showing Crain up.
After the regular season, Northeastern should find themselves as a top-four seed in the CAA tournament for the third year in a row. The first half of the season should be the easiest for the Huskies — their conference games in September all come against mid to bottom table teams, with the easiest week being their back-to-back games against the Blue Hens and the Pirates. As the weather shifts and the calendar flips to October, Northeastern gets their toughest four game stretch of the regular season. Hofstra, Monmouth, and Towson should all be in contention for the top spot in the CAA, and two of those games are on the road. If the Huskies can take two of those three games, they should be in an excellent position near the top of the conference table.