At an NCAA institution where there is no football team, the fall sports season may on the surface appear to be lacking. However at Boston University, the soccer teams as well as the field hockey teams, each of which contend on a yearly basis for a spot in their respective NCAA tournaments, make the fall debatably the most successful of the three sports seasons. Now, The Daily Free Press beat writers for each team preview what could be ahead for each of the three squads in 2010.

<strong>Men's Soccer</strong>

The adage goes that a new season represents a clean slate, an opportunity to start over. For the 2010 edition of Boston University men's soccer, the upcoming season will be just that &amp;- a shot at redemption, a chance to make amends for a disappointing 2009 campaign.

Hope and promise for this team are completely justified as the Terriers bring back a strong core group of players, many of whom had a large hand in the early success of last year's team, a start highlighted by a September home win over then-No. 1 St. John's University.

Junior midfielder Michael Bustamante is as electrifying a player as you can find in America East and is the central playmaker on the squad, coming off a season in which he was the team leader with 10 assists.

Senior striker Aaron O'Neal is another key returning piece, looking to build on a very successful junior season in which he led the Terriers with 11 goals. Among the other notable players coming back are junior midfielder Ben Berube, junior forward Stephen Knox and junior midfielder Colin Henry.

The Terriers will face a challenging non-conference schedule in 2010, with matches against several ranked teams &amp;- No. 10 Harvard University, No. 12 Boston College and No. 17 St. John's &amp;- awaiting them. And as last season proved, the slate of AE games that follows can be equally grueling for BU, as the Terriers will have to contend with what should be a very crowded field at the top of the conference.

Under the guidance of 26-year coach Neil Roberts, the pieces are undoubtedly in place for a successful season for BU men's soccer. The question that remains, however, is whether that talent can translate to the sort of success that can propel the program back to prominence, both within the conference and nationally.

<strong>Women's Soccer</strong>

After yet another successful season against conference opponents, the BU women's soccer team will look to turn up the stakes against its out of conference opponents in 2010. The three-time defending AE champions go into the fall semester facing eight teams that competed in last year's NCAA championships.

Head coach Nancy Feldman has three seniors returning for her 16th year at the helm of the team. Defender Lily Albin and midfielders Corie Halasz and Shauna Kelleher will look to cap successful college careers with yet another conference title. Halasz and Kelleher will be joined by junior Lina Cords as tri-captains for the 2010 season.

The team will have to look within to replace the contributions of team talisman and BU soccer icon Emily Pallotta, a 2010 graduate. Last season, the midfielder was named the AE Woman of the Year, among other conference honors. Eight freshmen will join the Terrier squad this year looking to make a contribution.

BU started off its schedule with five straight home games, beginning with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to No. 12 University of South Carolina on Aug. 20 and capping it off with a grudge match against Boston College on Sept. 30 where the Terriers will look to avenge a 2-0 loss to their rivals last season.

Success in the NCAA tournament will be a big goal for Feldman's squad this season. Four straight first-round exits from the tournament have left the team hungry for more.

<strong>Field Hockey </strong>

There perhaps hasn't been a more dominant BU team in conference play the last few years than the field hockey squad, and by all accounts, it could be just as dominant again, as AE coaches unanimously selected the Terriers to take the AE title back to Boston this season.

The Terriers return all but three players from last year's championship-winning squad, and none of those returnees may be bigger than senior midfielder Allie Dolce, who led the team in assists with 12 and points with 28 en route to winning the 2009 AE Midfielder of the Year award last season. Sophomores Nicole van Oosterom (10-3&amp;-23) and Jacinda McLeod (9-3&amp;-21) will also look to build on fantastic freshman campaigns.

BU will be in good hands under the helm of veteran coach Sally Starr, who could very well be the female equivalent of men's hockey coach Jack Parker. Although Starr has never led the Terriers to a national championship as Parker has, she has guided her teams to multiple NCAA appearances over the years and is 12th all-time in wins by a college field hockey coach.

Starr and the rest of the Terriers will have to deal with the likes of University at Albany, the consensus No. 2 in the conference headed into this season after finishing 13-5 and 4-1 in AE last year, if they are to return to the top of the conference in 2010. A non-conference schedule, highlighted by games against NCAA qualifiers BC and Michigan State University, could also give BU a few bumps in the road on their way to potentially their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007.</p>