University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Northeastern
Blue Hens Clinch CAA Tournament Berth with Hard-Fought 1-0 Win at Northeastern
10/25/2015 4:53:00 PM | Women's Soccer
• Boxscore
BROOKLINE, Mass. -- The University of Delaware women's soccer team came into Sunday's matchup at Northeastern knowing exactly what it had to do to earn a spot in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.
Then they went out and did exactly what they needed to do. Entering the day needing a victory over the host Huskies to keep their season alive, the Blue Hens got an early goal from freshman Riley Curtin (Hershey/Hershey, Pa.) and shut down Northeastern the rest of the way for a 1-0 victory in the regular season finale at Parsons Field.
The Hens (8-8-2, 3-4-2 CAA), who snapped a two-game losing streak, earned the No. 6 seed in the CAA Tournament and will travel to No. 3 seed UNCW for a quarterfinal game next Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
Delaware entered the day with eight points in conference play, one behind Drexel for sixth place in the league standings. The win gave Delaware three points and pushed the Hens past the Dragons, who fell to Hofstra 1-0 on Sunday afternoon after downing Northeastern 3-1 Friday night.
Hofstra earned the top spot in the league standings and will host the semifinals and finals on Nov. 6-8 in Hempstead, N.Y. The other quarterfinal matchup will have No. 5 Northeastern traveling to No. 4 James Madison on Nov. 1. That winner will take on No. 2 seed William & Mary in the semifinals while the Delaware-UNCW victor will take on Hofstra in the other semifinal matchup. The tournament champion earns a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Curtin gave Delaware all the offense they would need as she scored her fourth goal of the season on a deflected shot from 18 yards out just 1:46 into the match. The Blue Hen defense took over from there as Delaware withstood 16 Northeastern shots with sophomore Kailyn Rekos (Groton-Dunstable/Groton, Mass.) notching her fifth shutout of the year with five saves.
Northeastern held a 16-6 advantage in shots but Delaware owned the corner kicks battle by an 8-4 margin.
HEN SCRATCHINGS:
• Delaware and UNCW tied 2-2 back on Sept. 27 in Wilmington, N.C. in the regular season. The teams will meet in the postseason for the first time since UNCW advanced on penalty kicks in the 2012 quarterfinals.
• Delaware has advanced to the CAA Tournament seven times overall and earned semifinal appearances in both 2005 and 2011
• Curtin's goal was her first game-winner of the season and gave her 13 points (4 goals, 5 assists) on the season, the most by a Delaware rookie since Amy Picard had 19 points during the 2007 campaign
• Delaware has now won eight or more games 14 times in the last 17 seasons
AGATE:
Delaware..........1.....0.....1
Northeastern.....0.....0.....0
Scoring Summary: 1st Half - Delaware - Riley Curtin (unassisted), 1:46
Shots: D - 6, N - 16; Corner Kicks: D - 8, N - 4; Saves: D - 5 (Kailyn Rekos), N - 1 (Nathalie Nidetch); Fouls: D - 16, N - 7.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Scott Selheimer | selheime@udel.edu | Office: 302-831-8007 | Cell: 302-562-5129
