Boxscore

Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men’s soccer team fell to Colonial Athletic Association leader, Northeastern University, 2-1, at the Delaware Mini-Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Though Delaware (5-12-0 overall, 2-7-0 CAA) and Northeastern (7-1-0 overall, 8-6-0 CAA) each tallied a goal in the first half, it was a controversial second-half penalty kick that served as the game’s winning goal.

Visiting Northeastern first got on the board in the 27th minute when Santiago Bedoya drilled in an inbounded ball that was sent to him via Lars Okland. Bedoya’s shot flew parallel with the end line, across goal, and into the far right side of net to give the Huskies an early 1-0 advantage.

Delaware responded in a timely fashion, knotting the game at 37:45. Senior Darren Christie recorded his seventh goal of 2009 on a breakaway play. Christie (at right) dribbled into the box, made a swift move around a Northeastern defender and a downed keeper, to score from the far side of the left post.

The contest remained deadlocked until the 65th minute when Delaware freshman Ben Raymond was charged with a red card in the box following a hand ball. With the Huskies awarded a penalty kick, Okland stepped to the challenge. Okland motioned right, and Hens’ keeper Conrad Rusnak dove accordingly, before he placed the ball in the low left of goal for the score.

While the Huskies’ dominance was obvious in the second stint of play, Delaware chanced goals both early and late in the half. At 49:34, Christie laced a shot from 20 yards out that curved in to barely fly high of the crossbar, while sophomore Darren O’Connor fired the last shot of the game at 89:47 to the right side of a handful of bodies in the box. Huskies’ goalkeeper, Scott Partridge, made a critical save to end the game.

“The lads played very well at times today and scored a great goal through Darren Christie,” observed fourth-year head coach Ian Hennessy. “We gave away two goals that we could have dealt better with, but credit to Northeastern who are at the top of the league and doing well under Brian [Ainscough].”

Delaware will return to CAA action on Saturday, Oct. 31 when it travels to CAA opponent, Virginia Commonwealth, for a 7 p.m. game.

AGATE:

Northeastern.....1...1.....2
Delaware...........1...0.....1

Scoring Summary: First Half: NU - Santiago Bedoya (Lars Okland) - 26:28, UD - Darren Christie - 37:45; Second Half: NU - Lars Okland (Penalty Kick) - 64:37; Shots: UD - 10, NU - 21; Corner Kicks: UD - 4, NU - 10; Saves: UD - 2 (Conrad Rusnak, 2), NU - 5 (Scott Partridge, 5); Fouls: UD - 5, NU 14; Offsides: UD - 2, NU - 0.