After going winless in the preseason against two top programs in the country in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina, the Elon University men’s soccer team earned a 1-1 draw with Northeastern University in both teams’ first game of the Duke Classic in Durham Friday night.
Northeastern wasted little time getting on the board in the 9th minute on junior Donovan Fayd’Herbe de Maudave’s long-distance
strike. He dribbled past the Phoenix defense and rifled a shot from 15 yards out that whistled past Elon junior goalkeeper Nathan Thomas and into the top left corner of the goal to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Elon outshot Northeastern 13 to nine and had seven corner kicks to the Huskies two, but they couldn’t break through until the 79th minute.
Redshirt freshman Thorsten Patcher drew a penalty in the Huskies box. Senior midfielder Matt Wescoe was able to beat Northeastern sophomore goalie Dylan Faber and tie the score at 1-all.
Neither team was able to score in overtime, although Elon had their opportunities. The best look came in the 101st minute when sophomore defender Samuel McBride sent a header toward Faber that the Huskies goalkeeper was able to deflect off the crossbar to preserve the tie.
The Phoenix will play their second game in the four team, two game tournament hosted by Duke University against Rutgers University on Sunday, Sept. at noon.