It’s been done countless times. Every semester, all of Boston University’s athletic teams face Boston College. And every time it’s a big deal, but when the Terriers take the field against BC’s soccer team this afternoon, there’s more than just bragging rights on the line: BC has ousted the Terriers from the NCAA tournament for the past two years.
BU is heading into the game on the heels of a weekend in Wisconsin, where they split the Wisconsin Soccer Classic. BU (2-2-0) beat UW-Milwaukee, 1-0, Friday night before falling to the UW-Madison on Sunday, 1-0. It was a weekend that showed the Terriers they had some things to build on heading into today’s game.
In the game against UW-Milwaukee, redshirt freshman goalie Janie Reilly pitched a shutout, a feat she has now accomplished in each of her two career starts. Strong goalkeeping combined with sophomore forward Farrell McClernon’s first goal of the season early in the game gave the Terriers their second victory of the year despite a disappointing overall performance in which they were outshot, 12-5.
Friday’s sub-par exhibition was followed by a much stronger display of BU’s ability against Wisconsin. Defensive pressure was the key in limiting the Badgers’ scoring chances, and, save for one miscue in the second half that led to a Wisconsin tally, the Terriers executed their gameplan.
No. 8 BC (3-0-0) heads into the contest on a roll after taking down a pair of Ivy League schools — Brown University and Harvard University – last week to move up two spots in the NSCAA rankings. BC has outscored its opponents 6-1 over the course of its first three games. BC’s balanced scoring attack has featured six different Eagles finding the back of the net this season. In just three games, the Eagles have outshot their opponents, 59-29.
These teams met twice last year, once in the regular season and again in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers took the first matchup in late August, 1-0, but were knocked out of the tournament by BC in November in an ugly 3-0 loss — the second consecutive year BC took down BU on the national stage. In 2005, BC scored a 1-0 victory in the tournament’s second round. However, since 2002, BU is 4-1 against BC in the regular season.