The 2007 season was a solid year for the Boston University women’s soccer program as the team flew into the NCAA Tournament with an 11-6-3 record and an America East title in its back pocket. But as is the case in all of college athletics, teams lose key players to graduation every year. In BU’s case, that player was AE Goalkeeper of the Year Christina Reuter.
In 15 starts last fall, Reuter posted a goals-against average of 0.66 and .885 save percentage, both of which were tops in the conference.
Unfortunately for Terrier opponents, third-year sophomore Janie Reilly appears more than capable of filling Reuter’s shoes.
“[Reilly] got some playing time last year,” BU coach Nancy Feldman said. “It was a really good competition [between Reilly and Reuter], but Janie got hurt, and that really left the job to Christina to play more. The point is, though, that Janie got some good fall experience last year in season, and this past spring she got every minute of every game.
“We’re extremely confident in her. She is a competitor. She is driven. She’s a team player. She’s worked really hard in her training to improve in her areas of weaknesses.”
Through three games, Reilly has allowed only two goals on 17 shots, including a clean sheet against the University of Rhode Island on Aug. 28. Feldman has had nothing but positive things to say about Reilly’s play, noting that both goals were more the result of good offensive attacks breaking down the Terrier defense rather than Reilly being out of position.
However, should Reilly falter at any point, Feldman says she wouldn’t hesitate to put confident freshman Annie Tooley in net, and has yet to hand Reilly the fulltime goaltending responsibilities, saying the starting position is still being evaluated on a game-by-game basis.
“[Tooley] has provided good competition for Janie so far,” Feldman said. “We’ve got two kids that are at least going to make the easy saves, and I think Janie’s proven this year – while Annie hasn’t had a chance to – that she can do a little bit more than just the saves she should make. Janie has actually kept us in a couple of these early games with some very, very good saves.”
Meanwhile, in the field, the Terriers are returning every goal scorer from the team’s 2007 campaign, including leading scorer and First-Team All-Conference midfielder Marisha Schumacher-Hodge. Schumacher-Hodge headlines an attack that has proved to be efficient, though not necessarily outstanding in the past.
Feldman stressed that for her team to achieve more than it did last season, the offense will need to step it up another notch. BU scored two or more goals just seven times last season, and although the Terriers still won more of those games than they lost, it’s a trend Feldman believes needs to be kicked if her team is to make noise past the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, BU will continue to rely on what Feldman referred to as a “stingy” defense, and she knows that if given a lead, her backfield defenders can do a very good job of shutting down opponents’ offensive attacks.
“Everyone on our team has a mentality to defend,” Feldman said. “I think that’s our personality.”
In the end, Feldman said her team’s greatest strength will undoubtedly be its strong leadership and experience.
“I think one of our biggest strengths is that we have a core group of players with a lot of experience in the last two years,” Feldman said. “Between playing a tough non-conference schedule and playing NCAA Tournament games. These seniors now have played in three NCAA Tournaments.
“It’s a pretty competitive bunch, and they place good value on hard work and strong character. It all starts with the captains. Shannon Mullen and Liz Speck definitely make fantastic leaders and exemplify all those qualities I just mentioned, including a wealth of experience since they’ve both been starting since they were sophomores.”
The Terriers were chosen as America East preseason favorites by the conference’s head coaches for the fifth consecutive year, but Feldman maintains the road through the conference is getting tougher each season, as teams such as the University of New Hampshire, University of Maine and Stony Brook University continue to improve their programs, while the conference’s weaker programs have also improved in the past few years.
“To tell you the truth, everyone who has been at the bottom [of AE] has gotten better,” Feldman said. [The University of Maryland-Baltimore County] hasn’t proven that yet, but [the University of Vermont] and [the University at Albany] are going to be tougher.
“I think the gap is closing, with a lot of teams pushing up, and those top teams that we competed with last year for the title certainly haven’t gotten any worse.”