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Northeastern opened its conference schedule with a 2-1 win over VCU at Parsons Field on Saturday.

The game flashed to life very early on. The Huskies jumped out in front in the eighth minute thanks to Ricardo McDonald's third goal of the season. The sophomore forward received the ball via a throw-in from Top Phataraprasit, turned away from his defender, and burst ahead into open space. With only keeper Josh Pantazelos to beat, McDonald picked his spot well and hit a well-placed shot into the far bottom corner.

Barely a minute later VCU had a chance to equalize. The Rams earned a penalty kick after a Husky defender was whistled for a foul in the box, and Yoram Mwila stepped up to take the spot kick. Northeastern keeper Oliver Blum guessed the right way and kept out Mwila's effort with a diving save, low and to his left.

The Huskies gifted the Rams another scoring chance in the 13th minute, and this time VCU was happy to capitalize. Conner Alexander mishit a clearing attempt inside the six-yard box, and Jason Johnson was on hand to head the ball past Blum and level the score.

Northeastern had an opportunity to re-take the lead later in the first half but McDonald's shot following a Mike Kennedy rebound was cleared off the line by a Ram defender.

The Huskies came out strong after halftime, dictating the tempo of the game for much of the second 45 minutes. Kennedy, who switched from the left side of attack to the right to start the half, was causing plenty of problems for the VCU defense and Pantazelos was forced to make a strong diving save to his left to keep out Kennedy's stinging shot.

Northeastern created plenty of chances in open play, but the decisive goal came from the penalty spot. Dante Marini was tackled illegally in the box trying to latch on to a defensive mistake from the Rams, and Kennedy stepped up to take the resulting penalty kick. After the first attempt at the penalty kick was called back for encroachment, Kennedy buried the second try, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

“I think the team really showed a lot of character tonight,” said head coach Brian Ainscough. “We had numerous good chances and if we can get that many chances against opposition like VCU, and continue to create those kinds of chances, we'll be in good shape.”

The win takes Northeastern to 5-1-1, while the Rams fall to 5-4-0 with the loss.

The Huskies will return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to Holy Cross for a non-conference match-up. That game is slated for 7 p.m. Northeastern will resume CAA competition on Oct. 1 at James Madison.

A replay of this game is available on GoNUxstream. GoNUxstream is free to all viewers and features live and on-demand video and audio broadcasts, as well as live game stats, and is accessible on PC and Mac computers, as well as on iPhones, iPads and Android phones.