BROOKLINE – In their best offensive performance of the season, Northeastern shut out Delaware 6-0 on Saturday afternoon at Parsons Field.
Both teams came into the game riding high off victories on Tuesday, with the Blue Hens winning 4-1 over George Washington University and the Huskies ending their four-game tie streak with a 4-2 win against Dartmouth University.
The Huskies spent the week of practice focused on finishing and their attack game, which was displayed throughout Saturday’s contest.
“I think all week we’ve been trying to hammer down what we can do in terms of the attacking half,” said Northeastern Assistant Coach Ricardo Pinto. “We’ve been so good all year and the boys have done such a great job all year of being defensively sound. And I think this week we’ve been trying to really reinforce our attacking principles.”
The Huskies snatched the first goal of the game just 10 minutes into action. Following a quick restart off a Delaware foul, the Huskies were able to keep their patience as they passed around in the Blue Hens’ half. Senior Ethan Franco switched the ball past a defender who stretched out his leg too far, causing him to fall to the ground and hurt himself so he stayed on the ground. Northeastern senior Sebastian Restrepo capitalized by driving the ball down the right side of the field and into the box, scoring in the bottom left corner of the goal.
The Blue Hens, desperate for an equalizer, kept making sloppy passes and were also being out-hustled by the Huskies on tackles.
Northeastern’s second goal came off a corner kick, with the ball headed around by freshman Ethan Kang and junior Fraser Brown. Senior Connor Lawlor headed the ball in top left of the net, as the Delaware goalie, Adam Vik, attempted to punch it out. However, his fist connected with the ball while it was already past the line.
Only three minutes later, the Huskies scored once more.
Sophomore Neil Devnani won the tackle against Delaware and drove the ball toward the middle of the pitch. He switched the field, passing it to Brown. Brown slid the ball past the Delaware goalie for the third goal of the game.
In advance of the game, Brown was named the “Player to Watch” by Northeastern – which he was not aware of until afterwards.
“It’s good to have those accolades, but just keep working hard and doing what I do,” said Brown.
The Huskies tended to find success when they switched the field, which was a consistent strategy for the team. At one point in the first half, Northeastern’s head coach Jeremy Bonomo was yelling at his team, “Getting stuck on one side. Keep it moving!”
Delaware became visibly more frustrated as they tried to get on the board with the score mounting against them.
Through their goal-scoring struggles, the Hens managed to put the ball on Northeastern’s half However, they were only able to have a few header attempts before Northeastern tried to clear the ball but it went straight to Delaware’s center back who attempted to lob the ball for the forwards to run on to, but Northeastern goalie, Colby Hegarty caught it with ease.
The Huskies continued the high pressure, giving them one more chance from a cross. It ended up being headed over the net.
In the second half, Northeastern sometimes struggled to clear the ball by giving too much time on the bounce, but Delaware never capitalized.
Just two minutes into the half, Northeastern was able to pass the ball up the field, earning a corner kick. Junior midfielder Morris Matthews took the kick, setting up sophomore defender Mathias Hille to head the ball right at the top center of the net.
Only four minutes later, Northeastern widened the score even further. Devnani brought the ball down low and was able to pass to graduate student Harry Sankey, who was in the bottom left corner of the penalty box. He brought it into the middle, passing it to Matthews who scored to make the game 5-0..
Delaware’s biggest challenge throughout the game was their slow decision making. On a number of occasions, the Hens decided to pass the ball back to their defense when there was an open pocket in front of them.
The Blue Hens best opportunity was shot down by Hille, as he was able to run with Delaware junior Mikey Johnson and cleared the ball off Johnson to force a goal kick.
Northeastern began to slow down and take their time with passes instead of being on their toes. On the other hand, Delaware was unable to slow down and take their time, which made the majority of their passes sloppy.
Northeastern’s final goal of the game was by Ethan Franco in the top right corner of the net with just three minutes remaining in regulation. Graduate student forward Kevin Ogudugu brought in from the far right towards the net before passing to Franco.
With playoffs only two games away, this game boosted Northeastern’s confidence and proved how their work during practice can translate into on-field success.
“That was from everybody from the bench to the starters to the guys that came in. It’s a full team effort from everybody,” said Pinto. “And it’s a testament to how much they’ve obviously worked all week to get to this point. Not only with today, but also with Dartmouth on Tuesday.”