Often in sports, the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story of the game. For the Boston University women’s soccer team, that was certainly the case during its trip to Wisconsin this weekend.
BU split its two games in the Wisconsin Soccer Classic, putting forth a lackluster effort in a 1-0 win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday night before suffering a 1-0 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sunday afternoon despite much-improved play.
The Terriers went on the attack in the early stages of their contest against UW-Milwaukee (3-1), and their efforts paid off as sophomore forward Farrell McClernon scored her first goal of the season 9:09 into the game.
The goal started with sophomore back Casey Brown retrieving freshman defenseman Lina Cords’ long ball into the box and crossing it to McClernon. She fired off a shot that was blocked, but she got hold of the rebound and fired it past UW-Milwaukee goalie Erin Kane as she fell to the ground.
“It was a relief, and it felt great to score my first goal of the year,” McClernon said. “I love scoring goals, so hopefully there will be more to come.”
“Farrell was in the right place at the right time,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “It was a great finish.”
The Terriers forced Kane to make one more save in the half, while holding Milwaukee to three total shots and none on goal in the frame. But the Panthers, a 2006 NCAA Tournament team, woke up in the second half.
The Panthers generated nine shots in the frame, and in the 68th minute Nicole Hirsch fired a shot on net that was saved by redshirt freshman goalie Janie Reilly, who posted her second shutout in as many games. In the 83rd minute, Reilly made her second stop of the game, and in the 90th minute, Milwaukee’s Sarah Talbert fired a shot wide. Despite being outshot 12-5 and allowing nine Milwaukee corner kicks while gaining just two of their own, BU held on for the win.
“Against Milwaukee, we lost our composure and we gave up many more opportunities to attack then we should have,” Feldman said. “We were fortunate to win, but Janie never lost her composure in goal, which is a good sign for a young player.”
Following the hard-fought victory over the Panthers, Feldman decided to change the Terriers’ defensive tactics, as they played a delayed high-pressure system against the Big Ten Conference’s UW-Madison (2-1-1).
The defensive switch paid off, save for one defensive breakdown in the second half that the Badgers capitalized on. In the 67th minute, Madison midfielder Whitney Owusu passed the ball to teammate Taylor Walsh, who was open on the right side of the box.
Walsh took the pass and booted the ball past senior goalie Christina Reuter and just inside the right corner of the goal.
BU stepped up its offensive pressure after the goal, as a header by freshman forward Stephanie Croghan in the 71st minute forced Madison goalie Jamie Klages to make a save. In the last ten minutes, BU had its best opportunities of the game as sophomore midfielder Mara Osher took a shot from 20 yards out that was saved by Klages. Cords later put a shot high with just seconds left in the game.
“We just didn’t get enough separation on our opportunities, and our final efforts came up short,” Feldman said. “We have good enough attacking players, so we should be able to improve our chances in the coming games.”
Despite the loss, which clinched Madison victory in the tournament, Feldman was thrilled with her team’s response after its sub-par play Friday.
“For 90 percent of the game, we controlled the tempo the way we wanted to and we possessed the ball the way we wanted to,” Feldman said. “I wondered if changing tactics defensively would throw us off our game, but we handled it well. Overall, it was our most complete 90-minute effort.”
McClernon, like the rest of her teammates, was disappointed to leave America’s Dairyland without a title, but she was encouraged by her team’s play Sunday.
“We had a really good game and we connected on a lot of passes,” McClernon said. “It was a rough loss, but if we keep improving our final push toward the goal we will be fine.”
