Men’s soccer off to strong start

Donovan Fayd’Herbe de Maudave couldn’t have dreamed of a better scenario in which to score his first collegiate goal: propelling the men’s soccer team to victory in front of a raucous home crowd of more than 1,500 fans.

“It was an incredible atmosphere and a great day to score my first goal,” he said.

The sophomore forward buried a loose rebound off a shot by teammate Don Anding at the 64th minute, scoring the only goal as the Huskies downed the Harvard Crimson 1-0 at Parsons Field on Sunday. The goal followed Northeastern’s intensified offensive pressure in the second half, which led to a flurry of goal-scoring opportunities.

The win improved Northeastern’s record to 3-0 to start the season. The Huskies opened the season with an exhilarating 2-1 double-overtime home victory over Providence on Aug. 24. The team carried that momentum into its second game, beating host Marist 1-0 in another double-overtime thriller on Aug. 28.

Timely scoring and stellar defense have keyed the Huskies’ early success. Senior goalkeeper Oliver Blum has spent the bulk of the action in net, only allowing one goal through three games.

Head coach Brian Ainscough credited the early season success to his players’ commitment to ball possession. He said an emphasis on controlling the ball with the attack and quickly regaining possession after turnovers has paid early dividends.

“It’s a good way of keeping our opponents off the score sheet,” Ainscough said.

Up next for Northeastern is a road matchup with Michigan (1-2), which is coming off a 3-0 loss to Cleveland State last weekend. The Huskies will face the Wolverines on Sunday at 2 p.m.

The game kicks off an important slate of road games for the team, which will travel to Fairfield (Sept. 15) and William & Mary (Sept. 22) on consecutive weekends. The Huskies then return home to face Holy Cross on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

“I think when we come back from this road trip, we will have a clear picture of what our season is going to look like,” Ainscough said.