BROOKLINE, Mass.— William & Mary men's soccer used a pair of second half goals to power past Northeastern on a rainy afternoon in Brookline, Mass., 2-0, on Saturday.
 
The Huskies were the aggressors early with three high quality chances in the first 11 minutes.
 
After a giveaway with goalkeeper Ryan Eapen out of the net, Northeastern had a chance with the goal unattended. Luckily for the Tribe Bryce Smith was at the right place at the right time, getting to the ball before it reached the goal to clear it away.
 
Off a corner moments later Eapen was called into action, making a save on a Northeastern header. The Huskies would have another shot attempt in the 11^th minute that missed wide and the match remained scoreless early.
 
The first quality chance from the Tribe came in the 19^th minute via Diogo Branco. The junior, who made his first start on Saturday since August, took a pass from Sam Delgado and ripped a try from 25 yards out. The attempt had promise but narrowly missed the far post, going out for a goal kick.
 
Both teams battled for possession through the slick and rainy conditions for the remainder of the half. Aidan Morrison placed a header towards goal that was off target, while Eapen picked up another save in the closing minutes of the half as the teams went to the break tied 0-0.
 
Shots after 45 minutes favored the Huskies, 5-2.
 
The Tribe picked up the attack out of the halftime break, opening the scoring just 90 seconds into the frame.
 
Evan Rabush played a ball into the box that forced the Northeastern keeper to come out and play it. Unable to corral the service, the ball fell right to Webb Kosich, who calmly cleaned up the play for his first goal, and points, of the season. The 47^th minute tally was the third goal in Kosich's career with the Tribe.
 
Morrison tried to extend the lead minutes later but had his shot attempt fly wide.
 
Rabush, who set up the Kosich goal, looked to add his own name to the scoresheet in the 59^th minute. The sophomore took a feed from Gabe Ruitenberg and had space inside the 18-yard box, but his shot was saved with a dive by the Husky goalie.
 
Northeastern pushed hard for an equalizer, and had plenty of shot attempts, but struggled to find the target.
 
The Huskies pressure led to a Tribe counterattack in the 72^nd minute. Tre Barrett played the ball forward to Rabush and the attack was on for the Green and Gold. Rabush served up a perfect ball to the back post where Delgado was waiting to head the it into the net to make it 2-0.
 
The goal was the second of the season for Delgado, while the assist was the second of the year for Rabush and third for Barrett.
 
Eapen made a trio of solid saves after the insurance goal, as the Tribe coasted down the stretch to a 2-0 road win.
 
The victory for the Green and Gold is their first in a conference road opener since 2011.
 
The Huskies led in shots on the afternoon 15-7. Eapen picked up the Tribe's third clean-sheet-win of the season with five saves.
 
Starters
W&M- #3 Smith, #5 Hiort-Wright, #8 Branco, #9 Caldas, #11 Morrison, #12 Barrett, #13 Crocco, #14 Sigurjonsson, #15 Delgado, #21 Cooper, #25 Eapen (GK)
NE- #1 Hegarty (GK), #4 Sciarra, #6 Prado, #8 Kang, #12 Tepe, #15 Franco, #17 Hille, #19 Matthews, #20 Leary, #21 Brown, #26 Lawlor
 
Up Next
The Tribe travel to George Mason for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday. The match will be at 7 p.m. and streamed on ESPN+.