College of Charleston
Northeastern
CofC M. Soccer Stymied in CAA Opener
10/5/2014 2:35:00 AM | Men's Soccer
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's soccer team succumbed to a 74th minute goal in a 1-0 loss to Northeastern in the teams' Colonial Athletic Association opener at Patriots Point on Saturday night.
The Cougars (2-5-1, 0-1-0 CAA) tasted defeat despite a 13-10 shot advantage in an evenly-played match which was contained largely in the central third of the field. Though the Cougars enjoyed periods of strong possession, their play lacked a dynamic element in the attacking third which kept them off the score sheet.
“It was an even match, and a hard fought match, but the first goal won,” said head coach Ralph Lundy. “We put in a good 90 minutes, but whoever scored first was going to win that game. They took a big chance and they finished it. The stat sheet says we had 13 shots, but we need more creativity in the final third. It was a tough game, but we didn't create enough quality scoring chances, even with 13 shots. We have to more high-probability shots. It has to be probable, not just possible. That was really the key to the match.”
The match's lone goal came in the 74th minute when the Huskies snubbed out a Cougar attack and capitalized on the counter in the opposite direction. Christian McKenna lined a ball through the Cougar backline and NU string puller Donovan Fayd'Herbe de Maudave raced to catch up with the ball as Cougar keeper Alex Young's only option was to come off his line in an effort to swallow up the pass, but Fayd'Herbe de Maudave got there first and chipped the ball over a diving Young and watched it trickle into the back of the net.
Young finished the night with four official saves and commanded his space well, making several athletic plays to clear entry passes away from their intended target.
The Cougars produced a tense conclusion to the match as they fought voraciously for an equalizer. The fruits of their labor nearly came to fruition after a restart in the 80th minute. Troy Peterson collected the ball with his back to goal around the top of the 18, and by way of a turn-and-shoot maneuver, fired a shot which was destined to equalize the match, but an NU defender barely got his head to the elevating shot and deflected it narrowly off frame.
The Cougars' fitness was on display as only two substitutions checked into the match and seven different CofC players went a full 90 minutes.
In an interesting bit of coincidence, these teams' two matches as CAA opponents have both been won, 1-0, by the visiting team with the time of goal separated by 49 seconds. Last season, CofC edged Northeastern on a 75th minute goal scored by Xavier Rajpaul after he was set up by his Trinidadian countryman Adan Noel.
Saturday's match closed a six-game road span for the Cougars, but only briefly as the Cougars go back on the road to face UNC Wilmington in another CAA showdown on Wednesday, Oct. 8 with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.
