One of the many goals Boston University women’s soccer coach Nancy Feldman set for her team at the beginning of this season was a fifth-straight victory in the America East Conference Championship.
With a 2-0 victory against the University at Albany Great Danes on Saturday afternoon at Nickerson Field, the Terriers (18-2-1, 8-0-0 America East) were able to meet Feldman’s goal and capture yet another America East title.
In the process, BU was also able to set a record – no other team in the history of America East women’s soccer has won five straight titles.
For the Brittany Heist, one of three fifth-year senior tri-captains who have been with the Terriers for the entire streak, the win was something special.
“Oh my gosh, it’s awesome,” Heist said. “Definitely a very special meaning when that buzzer went off.”
The Terriers dominated play right off the bat. BU took five corner kicks and shot 12 balls toward Albany goalie Jacky Ubert in the first half while limiting the Great Danes (9-10-1, 5-2-1 America East) to only one shot and few deep penetrations into Boston territory.
“I think we train hard and it shows in the games that we don’t come out and we don’t need time to get up to pace,” said senior midfielder Jessica Luscinski of the Terriers’ early attack. “That’s a huge thing because in big games you don’t have time to get up to pace.”
As a result of their quick play to open the game, the Terriers’ two goals came early. Luscinski and sophomore forward Madison Clemens scored within 10 minutes of one another in the middle of the first half.
Luscinski, recovering from a bout of pneumonia that forced her to watch last week’s semifinal game against the Binghamton University from the press box, opened scoring in the 15th minute. The senior struck a ball off the ground from the right side of arc on the outside of the 18-yard box. The ball sailed through the air and ricocheted off the far post on the left side of the goal into the net.
“I was able to hit it to the other side and hit the post,” Luscinski said.
The goal was the ninth of the season for Luscinski, the America East Striker of the Year for the past two seasons, making her the team leader in goals.
Ten minutes later, with 34:39 remaining in the half, Madison Clemens was able to put the ball in the back of the net again for BU. Freshman forward Taylor Krebs, running down the right side of the field in the shadows of Claflin Hall, chipped the ball to Clemens, who was in a patch of sun about 10 yards away from the right goal post. Clemens took a one-time shot off the pass, which eked between the post and a diving Ubert to seal the victory for BU.
Since she scored her first collegiate goal on Sept. 18 against Yale University, Clemens has developed into quite the scoring threat for the Terriers. She has six goals, which puts her tied for third on the team with Krebs and senior forward/midfielder Tiya Gallegos.
Nancy Feldman attributed Clemens’ increased production to how hard the coaching staff has tested the sophomore in practice and how much Clemens has been willing to change her style of play.
“She’s improved a lot and we’ve coached her hard,” said Feldman. “She brought a skill set, she can rip the back of the net off, but she’s shown a capacity to play and develop and not just rest on the things she’s comfortable doing.”
The Terriers had other opportunities to score in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Kylie Strom kicked back-to-back corners for the Terriers around in the fifth minute, but both times the Albany defense was able to prevent the Terriers from capitalizing on the set piece.
The Terriers were slightly less dominant in the second half. The Great Danes opened the half with an attack on the Terrier defense, and Albany was able to spend more time on the BU side of the field. Senior goalkeeper Alice Binns, who replaced Kelly King at halftime in a predetermined substitution, stopped all three shots the Great Danes sent her way.
Despite the additional Albany advances, the Terriers took two more shots in the second half than they did in the first. BU had a number of scoring opportunities, but could not take advantage.
“I would have liked to see us put the ball into the back of the net more, but I thought we had some good shots,” said Feldman.
BU will find out Monday afternoon who, when and where it will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Despite not knowing who their opponent will be, the Terriers said they are looking forward to more postseason play and the potential of hosting a tournament game.
“We’re all deciding where we want to watch [the selection show] at 4:30 on Monday,” Heist said. “We’d like to stay around here, get a good fan base. It would be awesome if we could host, but we’ll see what happens. But we’re just happy we’re in it and we’ll see what happens.”
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