William & Mary tops Northeastern, 1-0
Box Score | Season Stats
BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Northeastern men's soccer team (6-10-0, 3-3-0) fired eight shots on goal at William & Mary (6-10-1, 3-3-1), but could not solve goalkeeper Bennett Jones as the Tribe escaped Parsons Field with a 1-0 victory on Saturday night.
A goal off the foot of Reilly Maw in the 58th minute proved to be the difference for William & Mary, which was outshot 16-8 in the match (8-4 shots on goal). Jacob Aduama made three saves in goal for the Huskies in his second straight start.
Friday's loss keeps the Huskies at nine points in the conference standings entering the final week of the regular season. Northeastern owns the tiebreaker against two of the three teams below it (Drexel and College of Charleston) while James Madison sits two points behind NU as the two squads prepare to meet in the season finale next week. The top six teams in the conference standings advance to the CAA tournament.
The Huskies played a strong first half, outshooting the Tribe 9-5 (4-2 shots on goal) and maintaining ball possession for much of the opening 45 minutes. NU nearly took a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the match as Frantzdy Pierrot sent a clean cross over to Ackim Mpofu cutting to the right post, but Jones knocked down the Mpofu bid early on.
Josh West had William & Mary's first bid of the evening moments later when he broke through the Northeastern defense before letting a shot go intended for the lower right corner, but Aduama got a hand on the shot and gathered up the rebound. Harry Swartz also had an opportunity for NU at the other end of the field in transition in the fifth minute that Jones steered aside.
Pierrot had another chance to put Northeastern on the board in the 34th minute as he unleashed a bullet from the top right corner of the box that Jones handled, before Brad Fountain ran through the Tribe defense for a chance that just missed the inside of the left post.
William & Mary began to turn the field in its favor at the start of the second half, and drew first blood with 33 minutes left in regulation when Reilly Maw buried his fourth goal of the season on a shot that got past Aduama, off the left post and in.
The Huskies earned five corner opportunities after the Tribe tally, and generated seven shots in search of the tying goal, but Jones was up to the task as he gathered up all four shots on goal sent his way.
Fountain made a couple of bids as time began to tick down, the first coming when he picked up a loose ball from 16 yards out and tried to beat Jones between the legs, but the Tribe goalkeeper got his hands down to make the save. Later in the half, after Arvidsson was hauled down to set up a free kick from 25 yards out, Fountain's shot from the left side intended for the top right corner was gobbled up by Jones.
The Huskies will head back out on the road on Wednesday when Northeastern heads to Hempstead, New York for a matchup with Hofstra.
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