The Dirty Water Derby. A fixture as classic as the Old Firm or El Clasico. Northeastern vs. Boston University. Everything to play for.
The Huskies made the trip across town for the matchup against the Terriers at Nickerson Field, and after an interesting 90 minutes of play, would draw with their rival 1-1.
The first half started out slowly, with each team taking the time to possess the ball and assess the other team’s shape and strategy. This was an extended feeling out period, as it dragged the game past the twenty minute mark without a shot for either side.
Neither team could generate any offense in the central areas of the pitch, as each defense held strong and filtered the pressure off to the sides. Ahriá Simons was instrumental for the Huskies from the right fullback position. He was locking down his side of the pitch, dismantling the Terrier’s attack with ease. His contributions on offense did not go unnoticed either, as he was really the lone bright spot of the Huskies’ attack through the opening 45 minutes.
Simons would fight hard for his team, and would be rewarded for it, although not on the scoresheet. With a minute left in the first half, he rifled a cross towards the center of the BU penalty area. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough Northeastern bodies in the box to answer the cross, but Simons would be pleased with the result either way. Terrier defender Neal Carlson made an errant play on the ball, and it clattered off his leg and into the back of his own net, an own goal.
Northeastern entered the locker room at halftime with a 1-0 lead, despite neither side recording a shot on goal. The first half of the Dirty Water Derby was largely a dud, without much action at either end. The second half was sure to change that.
BU had a newfound desperation to their game, as they sought after the equalizer. Northeastern tightened up on defense, which made things extremely difficult on the Terriers. Simons linked up well with centerback Lucas Barankiewicz to shut down the right side of the pitch.
Fraser Brown was the lone bright spot of offense for Northeastern in the second half. He was on the finishing end of the Huskies best scoring chance. Federico Tellez worked the ball from the edge of the attacking third over to the penalty area. He found a tight passing window to work the ball to Brown, who fired a one time shot in stride towards goal. His shot was just a tiny bit off the mark, as it rattled the post and bounced out of play.
With nine minutes to go in the match, a tussle occurred at midfield. Andres Torrealba had his legs taken out from under him, but play continued due to a no-call from the referee. Torrealba had slid up from his center defensive midfield position, which opened up a huge gap for the Terriers. BU leading goalscorer Eitan Rosen made full use of this space, and surged towards the Northeastern net. Rosen displayed great speed as he penetrated the Huskies defense. He fired a shot towards the right of the net, and got the ball past the Husky goalkeeper Colby Hegarty to tie the game.
Northeastern was simply out of time. BU tightened up the defense, and parked the proverbial bus in front of the net to deny any late chances. The final whistle would sound, and the spoils would be shared between the two crosstown foes.
Although the Dirty Water Derby was not a defeat, the Huskies will still look to return to their winning ways with a match against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Parsons Field on Saturday.