BOSTON, Mass. -- Â The Northeastern women's soccer team returns to action this week for a pair of nonconference matches. On Thursday, the Huskies will head across town to face the Boston University Terriers at 7 p.m. The Huskies then head north to take on the University of Maine Black Bears on Sunday with kickoff set for 2 p.m.
Week in Review
The Huskies opened the 2017 season with a bang, winning their first two games and improving to 2-0-0 for the first time since 2009. The campaign kicked off on Friday, Aug. 18 at Parsons Field as Northeastern toppled Stony Brook 1-0.
Eve Goulet tallied the lone NU goal and
Nathalie Nidetch made four saves. On Sunday, Aug. 20, the Huskies took care of business at Holy Cross in a 2-0 victory. Nidetch made four saves once again and was cushioned by goals from
Hannah Lopiccolo and
Julianne Ross.
Nothing Beats Nidetch
Junior goalkeeper
Nathalie Nidetch was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for her two consecutive shutouts to open the season. She's made eight saves on eight shots so far and has a 180-minute shutout streak. She was also named an honorable mention TopDrawerSoccer.com's team of the week on Aug. 21.
Freshman Firepower
Three freshmen have made immediate impacts on the Northeastern lineup early this season. Forward
Chelsea Domond has been a focal point of the NU attack and, though she hasn't recorded any points thus far, she continues to be a headache for opposing defenders. On the back end,
Mikenna McManus and
Julianne Ross have helped the Huskies to consecutive clean sheets to start the year. Ross recorded her first goal against Holy Cross and McManus has used her speed to keep opposing forwards out of the danger area.
Solid Start
After collecting victories against Stony Brook and Holy Cross, the Huskies have achieved a record of 2-0-0 for the first time since 2009. It's also the first time that Northeastern has opened the season with consecutive shutouts since 2009. The Huskies have used well-rounded efforts to win their first two games. Sturdy goalkeeping from
Nathalie Nidetch, strong defending from a young back-line and a dynamic attack have allowed the Huskies to control the tempo in each of their first two matches.
CAA Preseason Accolades
With another competitive conference season on the horizon, the CAA announced that Northeastern has been pegged to finish first with 81 votes as voted by the conference's coaches. William & Mary has jumped from its fifth place finish last season to second in this year's preseason poll with 69 votes. Drexel and James Madison tied for third in the poll with 56 votes each while Hofstra landed in fifth with 48 votes. UNCW, College of Charleston, Delaware, Elon and Towson rounded out the projected CAA standings.
In addition to the No. 1 spot in the poll, the Huskies had four student-athletes recognized for their prospective success in 2017.
Hannah Lopiccolo was named the CAA Preseason Player of the Year and was named to the All-CAA preseason team. Joining her on the preseason team are forwards
Kayla Cappuzzo and
Hannah Rosenblatt. Goalkeeper
Nathalie Nidetch earned an honorable mention from the CAA as one of the top netminders in the conference.
Scouting Boston University
The BU Terriers started their season with a two-game road trip which sent them to Louisville and Cincinnati for their opening matches. At Louisville, the Terriers received goals from Kelly Park and Kiana Ghamarifard, but fell to the Cardinals 3-2. BU failed to find the back of the net at Cincinnati in a 2-0 loss. Despite their stumble out of the gates, the Terriers have high expectations in the Patriot League this season. They were projected to finish first in the conference in the preseason poll after falling by a goal in the conference championship game a season ago. Â Â
Scouting Maine
Slated to finish sixth in the America East preseason poll, the Maine Black Bears look to improve on their 7-8-0 record from 2016. In their first match this season, the Black Bears played to a scoreless draw at home against LIU Brooklyn. Maine returns their second highest scorer from last season in Kaitlyn Ball (2-3-7), but she is the only player from their top-5 point producers from 2016 to return to the team.
Â
