Box Score Box score

Don Anding scored his first goal of the season to lead Northeastern to a late 1-0 victory over the Towson Tigers in a soggy, rain-filled contest at Parsons Field on Wednesday.

Northeastern began the first half utilizing a formation that brought them success against Hofstra in the week prior. Ambry Moss, who had mostly been used as a central defender for the better part of the year, was deployed as a holding midfielder, slotting in front of the Husky back four.

Towson had the first high-quality scoring chance of the game in the second minute. Anthony Okodua pounced on a loose ball in the Northeastern defense and found himself one-on-on with keeper Oliver Blum. Okodua looked poised to open the scoring but Blum was off his line like a flash, shutting down the shot with a fine save to avoid what would have been a nightmarish start for the Huskies.

The decision to play Moss in a holding midfield role proved to be a smart one for Northeastern, as it began to enjoy the lion's share of possession. That possession soon begot chances for the Huskies, as Mike Kennedy dragged a shot just wide of the near post after being played into the penalty area by Dante Marini.

Northeastern was inches away from being in front mere minutes later. Marini found himself on the left side of the formation with his back to goal and laid the ball off into the path of Anding. The junior, playing at left-back, had one thing on his mind as he ran on to the ball, lacing a first-time effort with his left foot. The shot looked destined for the back of the net after leaving Tiger keeper John Steele rooted to the spot, but Towson got a last-second reprieve when the ball crashed against the crossbar and rebounded out of play.

The game wore on and the rain continued to intensify, making for tricky playing conditions as players struggled to adjust to the slick playing surface, with the Tigers in particular having difficulty.

Towards the end of the opening 45 minutes, those troubles came to the fore for Towson.  Anthony Okudua got free down the right flank and curled in a cross to Olakunje Banjo. Although he had plenty of space to work with, Banjo was unprepared for how quickly the ball reached him and was unable to put a shot on goal, instead scuffing his effort, leading to an easy clear for the Huskies.

The game moved into the second half and Towson began to pin the Huskies back in their defensive end. The Tigers controlled possession for a lengthy spell after the interval, but Northeastern's defense was equal to the task, preventing a single shot on goal in the second half.

The Huskies began to push back though, generating a handful of chances through corner kicks and other dead-ball situations. Ryan Burnham had the best look from one of these opportunities, running onto an in-swinging cross from Kennedy's corner kick, only for his headed shot to take a deflection off a Towson defender.

With roughly 15 minutes left in regulation and the score still deadlocked at zero, head coach Brian Ainscough went to his bench in an effort to break the tie. On came Eddie Nam for the hard-working Andre Ciliotta, with Nam stepping in at left back, pushing Anding up to the right side of attack. The move paid off in spades with three minutes remaining.

Kennedy, performing yeoman's work on the left side of attack, created a yard of space for himself and struck a shot that Steele was only able to parry. The rebound bounced right to the on-rushing Anding who was arriving at the back post, and the junior swept the ball into the net to give the Huskies the lead at the most crucial of times. Coming in the 87th minute, Anding's goal is the latest tally Northeastern has notched in regulation this year.

The Huskies saw out the remaining time with relative ease to maintain their perfect home record on the season and boost their overall mark to 8-4-2 (4-2-1 CAA). With the loss, Towson drops to 1-10-1 (0-7-0 CAA).

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