College of Charleston
Northeastern
CofC W. Soccer Falls to Northeastern
10/19/2014 8:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's soccer team suffered a 3-0 defeat to first-place Northeastern in Colonial Athletic Association action at Patriots Point on Sunday afternoon.
The Cougars (5-11-1, 1-6-1 CAA) were unable to complete the unenviable task of solving the nation's best defense, as NU goalkeeper Paige Burnett and company posted the Huskies' 13th shutout of the season.
Based on results from around the league, the win propels NU into sole possession of first place in the CAA standings while Delaware's Sunday victory over James Madison eliminated the Cougars from playoff contention.
“Hats off to Northeastern for coming in as a very good team which was well coached and moved the ball very well,” said head coach Christian Michner. “We knew we had our work cut out for us today, but I couldn't be more proud of my girls for their effort and the way they played into our game plan of closing spaces down and getting after them on the counter. I thought we could've held the ball better in our attacking areas, but that's the way it bounces.”
The first half of the match was a stalemate which was played largely in the central third of the field with two defensive minded teams slugging it out for possession in a period that only saw six combined shot attempts.
Both teams' best first half chances arguably came in rapid succession just before the 40th minute and built up similarly from the midfield, and on both occasions the ball seemingly self-mindedly danced away from the attackers' boots despite trespassing in the threatening areas of the pitch. CofC's threat was initiated by Mary Kate Bowes beating a couple Huskies in the midfield and finding Riley Narum up the right flank where she sent an inviting ball into the box, but the Huskies uneasily cleared it from danger.
After the break, CofC demonstrated the counter-attack mindedness Michner alluded to and started the second period with the Huskies on their heels. Moments into the period, freshman Sarah Blakely led a counter-attack through the middle of the pitch with attacking options on both sides, but elected to take a shot from the top of the box which was snagged out of the air by Burnett, who has only allowed four goals in 16 matches this season.
A few minutes later, Nicole Koretsky led an attack up the left flank and played a teasing centering feed across the goal mouth which was a shoelace out of the reach of Sarah Cardamone who was crashing in on an open goal at the far post.
Northeastern stilled the wind in CofC's sails, however, with a 61st minute goal which developed up the right side and culminated with Krista Meaglia one-touching a centering feed from Lahaina Zoller.
Just under 10 minutes later, NU tightened its grasp when Skylar LeBlanc lobbed in a ball from 30 yards out and Kayla Cappuzzo volleyed it out of the air for a 2-0 lead.
The Huskies added a third in the 90th minute when Taylor Caparo kept a ball in bounds at the endline and chipped towards goal at a nearly-zero angle, and Shayna Blackwood flicked it with her head along the goal line and into the far-side netting.
Charleston will break from CAA play with a makeup date at South Carolina State on Wednesday, Oct. 22 before closing out the season at home against UNC Wilmington on Sunday Oct. 26. The UNCW match will serve as the Cougars' Senior Day which will pay tribute to the careers of Cardamone and classmate Taylor Avery.
“We'll start to look ahead to South Carolina State and our midweek game with them,” said head coach Christian Michner. “We're excited for this in-state rivalry. This week is really about our seniors; we want to make sure that after all they've done for our program, that we're sending them out on a high note. We'll have the appropriate focus on SC State in the next couple days before shifting our eyes to UNCW.”
Players Mentioned
