Northeastern edged by No. 25 BC, 1-0

September 3, 2014

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Northeastern women’s soccer team (2-2-0) hit the crossbar twice and had two shots cleared off the goal line in a 1-0 setback against No. 25 Boston College (4-1-0) on Wednesday at Parsons Field.

Trailing 1-0 early in the second half, the Huskies nearly equalized when sophomore Mackenzie Dowd’s header beat BC keeper Alex Johnson, but was cleared off the line by defender Coco Woeltz. The rebound bounced in the air to sophomore Taylor Caparo, who headed it back on frame, but again Woeltz was in position to deny the shot at the right post.

Northeastern’s tough luck continued in the final five minutes of the game when sophomore Kimberly Slade unleashed a turn-around blast from 16 yards out that struck the underside of the crossbar and caromed back into the center of the box. Sophomore Haley Sinclair pounced on the ball with a follow-up header, but again the ball hit the bar and stayed out.

The only goal of the game came in the 36th minute off a corner kick. The Eagles’ Lauren Bernard played an out-swinger toward the right post and Hayley Dowd met the ball in the air with a powerful header into the top right corner of the net.

Both teams produced quality chances on other occasions as well. Late in the first half, Slade sent a beautiful free kick into the goal mouth that found the head of freshman Hannah Lopiccolo, but Johnson was in position to make the stop. Northeastern keeper Paige Burnett made her biggest save of the night in the opening minutes of the second half, denying Dowd a second goal with a point-blank stop off a cross from Stephanie McCaffrey.

Despite conceding its first goal in regulation this season, the Northeastern defense played a strong game to contain the high-powered BC attack. The Eagles mustered only eight shot attempts overall, compared to 11 for the Huskies. Sinclair led the Huskies with three shots, while Caparo paced the team with two attempts on target.

Northeastern will look to continue its strong run of play against Maine on Sunday. Kickoff from Orono is set for 1 p.m.

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