Game over for NU football program

Just a few months ago, everything was coming up roses for Alex Dulski.

The redshirt junior was annointed Northeastern’s starting quarterback in preseason, and made his belated college debut in the Huskies’ opening loss at Boston College.

Injuries often made the season frustrating for the Walpole native, but he was looking forward to 2010 after a two-game win streak to end the year.

Then, late on Sunday, he learned NU is cutting football entirely.

“It’s tough,” Dulski said yesterday. “It came as kind of a shock to all of us. We never thought it would come to this.”

Playing their home games at Brookline’s Parsons Field, the Huskies had struggled to draw both wins and fans in recent years. They went 3-8 this year, and hadn’t posted a winning record since 2003.

A press release from the school cited “additional multimillion-dollar investments” that would be necessary to maintain a Division I program.

“The decision is consistent with the university’s strategic approach to prioritize programs and invest in signature strengths,” it read in part.

Players found out about the cut in a Sunday evening meeting with administrators, and a simultaneous e-mail was sent to their parents. Coach Rocky Hager had informed players of his pending termination earlier in the day.

Andrea Dulski heard from her quarterback son as soon as he knew.

“Alex was so upset at first,” she said. “I thought he was fooling around, just goofing on me. Then he said, ‘No Mom, it’s over. It’s really over.’”

NU had competed in the Colonial Athletic Association since 2007. League coaches lashed out at the decision yesterday.

“I think it’s terrible,” Villanova coach Andy Talley said. “Absolutely awful. I really feel like football brings so much to a university. I think they took the easy way out.”

The school will continue to honor football players’ athletic scholarships.