WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary women's soccer saw its six-match unbeaten streak come to an end, suffering its first Colonial Athletic Association setback of the season, 3-2, to Northeastern on Thursday night at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field.
Juniors
Elaina Longjohn and
Kenna Zier each scored for the Tribe (6-5-3, 2-1-2 CAA), but the home team could not overcome an early two-goal deficit.
The visiting Huskies (6-4-3, 3-1-1 CAA) scored twice in a 49-second span midway through the opening half to take a 2-0 lead. Alexis Legowski punched home a cross from Jessie Hunt in the 24th minute, before Vivian Akyirem cut back and scored from 12 yards out inside the right post also off a Hunt pass.
W&M answered in the 28th minute on Longjohn's fourth goal of the season. The junior midfielder and freshman
Ivey Crain combined in the midfield with the latter breaking free into the right side of the penalty arena. Longjohn one-timed Crain's low cross into the center of the goal from inside the six to close the gap to 2-1. It marked the fifth-straight CAA game that Crain recorded at least a point.
The Tribe nearly found the equalizer early in the second half. Off a corner kick, NU goalkeeper Holland Stam came off her line to punch the ball away and in the process collided with a Tribe player. Junior
Ginny Delacruz collected it at the top of the box and lofted a shot that looked destined for the upper left corner of the goal. Stam recovered and got a hand to it pushing the shot wide of the frame.
NU scored on the counterattack in the 66th minute to increase its lead to 3-1. A long ball found its way to Rose Kaefer who lofted a shot over the top of Tribe goalkeeper
Zoe Doughty and into the upper left side of the goal from 18 yards out.
The Tribe cut the deficit back to one just six minutes later as Zier scored for the second time in as many matches. Delacruz tried to cross the ball in from the left wing but it deflected off the foot of a NU defender right to Zier. The Tribe midfielder bent a shot inside the right post from 12 yards out to make it 3-2. The assist was Delacruz's second of the season.
For the game, W&M outshot Northeastern, 12-9, including a 5-2 advantage in the second half. Each team put six chances on frame. The Tribe also generated 11 corner kicks compared to two for the victors. The Green and Gold had eight corners in the second half.
Scoring Summary
24' | NU – Alexis Legowski (Jessie Hunt/Jane Kaull)
25' | NU – Vivian Akyirem (Hunt)
28' | W&M –
Elaina Longjohn (
Ivey Crain)
66' | NU – Rose Kaefer (Kaull)
72' | W&M –
Kenna Zier (
Ginny Delacruz)
Starters
W&M - #19 Doughty (GK), #7 Puskar, #9 Sellers, #10 Shackford, #14 O'Toole, #18 Zier, #21 D'Alessandro, #22 Delacruz, #23 Crain, #26 Longjohn, #33 Moon
NU - #32 Stam (GK), #2 Hunt, #6 Dupont, #7 Kaull, #8 Dooley, #13 Fisher, #16 Dooley, #19 Akyirem, #20 Legowski, #26 Marchesseault, #30 Faith
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up its regular-season home schedule on Sunday when it welcomes Monmouth to Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed on FloFC.
