Victory had eluded the Boston University women’s soccer team through its first six games of the 2015 campaign, but the team finally put it all together over the weekend.
In their third consecutive overtime competition, the Terriers (1-4-2) came out on top and celebrated their first win of the season against Hofstra University on home turf Sunday afternoon by a 2-1 score.
The Terriers did not have a weak spot in their home opener.
BU coach Nancy Feldman said she was impressed with her team’s all-around success. She said the win was a “total team effort.”
The Terriers’ defense shut down a highly capable Hofstra (5-3) offense during the match. The Pride put up 21 shots, the most the Terriers have faced so far this season. Hofstra has only put up more shots in one other match this year. Despite the onslaught of attempts from the Hofstra offense, the Terriers did not falter.
“They had us beat in shots but shots on goal were pretty even,” Feldman said. “I think that tells you our defense is putting pressure on attackers in those final moments. It’s a good sign.”
Although the BU defense prevented Hofstra from creating many scoring opportunities, Hofstra’s aggressive play kept senior goalkeeper Alyssa Parisi on her toes. Parisi saved four shots and only allowed one goal. She had a little help from the post, but stood formidable in net for the full 97 minutes of play.
“We had great goalkeeping,” Feldman said. “Parisi did really good. She’s steady and making it look easy.”
Ultimately, it was the Terriers offense capitalizing on their scoring opportunities that clinched off the win. Throughout the season, BU had many scoring opportunities but only found the net three times coming into Sunday’s contest. However, facing Hofstra, the Terriers had their first multiple-goal game of the season.
For the first time this year, the Terriers scored first. Freshman midfielder Dorrie Varley-Barrett netted her first collegiate goal in the 26th minute of the match. The Chelmsford native headed the ball from six yards out, giving the Terriers a new wave of energy.
“It was a great way for us to kick off our home opener,” Feldman said. “It’s an advantage to not be chasing the game. A team like Hofstra plays well with a lead and is not used to being shut out. But, we gave up a tying goal, so we’re still in a dog fight. We were shaky in the beginning of the second half. We didn’t come out as well. I think the important part of the story is how we recovered. Once we got punched, we did a good job responding.”
Senior midfielder Clare Pleuler, who played strongly all afternoon, booted the game-winning goal from 25 yards out in the 97th minute of the game. Pleuler is now one of five Terriers with a goal this year.
10 shots on the day is not an unusual occurrence for the Terriers, as the team averages 11.3 a game. However, 70 percent of their shots were on goal Sunday. Typically, only about 46 percent of BU’s shots are shots on goal.
Earlier in the season Feldman said her team was not offensively successful because of its lack of patience. However, though her team scored twice yesterday, Feldman said she still believes that aspect of the Terriers’ game needs work.
“It’s not absolute,” Feldman said. “When we weren’t winning, we weren’t impatient all the time. When we win that doesn’t mean we were patient all the time. What matters is when we’re not patient, or losing our way, how can we get it back. For us, that’s having control of the ball.”
After this win, Feldman and her team hope to continue their streak of improving play and put some more tallies in the win column as they move on to Patriot League play next week.
“It’s nice to see players who work so hard find success,” Feldman said. “We are improving. Moving forward we are going to get better results.”
