WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Sophomore Mackenzie Dowd fired home a loose ball in the 80th minute to give the Northeastern women's soccer team an impressive 1-0 victory at William & Mary in the 2014 CAA opener on Friday at Albert-Daly Field.

The win snapped the Tribe's (6-2-1, 0-1-0 CAA) six-game unbeaten streak and gave Northeastern (6-3-2, 1-0-0 CAA) its eighth shutout of the season, tying a program record set in both 2000 and 2006. The Huskies have allowed only one goal in five road games this year and have conceded just three goals in 11 matches overall. 

In a tight, back-and-forth affair, Northeastern came out on the winning end thanks to an alert play by Dowd with 10 minutes to play in regulation. Following a Breeana Koemanscorner kick, the ball pinballed in the box momentarily, before finding the foot of Dowd, who stuffed it home for her second goal of the season. 

The play closely resembled the goal NU scored at Boston University on Sept. 14 when Koemans found senior Bianca Calderone for the game-winner off a corner in the 85th minute. William & Mary entered the match ranked No. 3 in the Mid-Atlantic Region; similarly, Boston University was ranked No. 2 in the region when the Huskies marched into town and emerged with another gritty road win.

Both teams produced quality chances in the first half, but could not find a goal in the opening 45 minutes. William & Mary nearly jumped in front just 90 seconds into the match when Samantha Cordum was released into space down the left wing, but her attempt from 16 yards out skipped just wide of the right post.

Five minutes later, the Huskies tested the Tribe defense when freshman Kayla Cappuzzo laid a pass off to sophomore Kimberly Slade for a shot from outside the box that was steered over the crossbar by Tribe keeper Caroline Casey (four saves).

After the halftime break, William & Mary again came close to grabbing the lead through Cordum, who whistled a shot off the crossbar in the 58th minute. The rebound fell to Haley Kavanaugh at the left of the net, but her follow-up attempt was blocked and cleared by Calderone to keep the game scoreless.

The back-and-forth game continued in the 72nd minute when Cappuzzo carved a path through three William & Mary defenders to get a shot off in close, but again Casey was in position for the denial.

Northeastern continued to drive forward and eventually found the net at the 79:50 mark when Dowd netted her second-career game-winner to give the visitors their first-ever road win at William & Mary. 

Senior Paige Burnett stopped one shot to pick up her 22nd career clean-sheet and 28th career victory.

The Huskies will look to close out the weekend on a high note when they visit Elon for the first time in program history on Sunday. Opening kick is set for 1 p.m.

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