Sixty-five minutes of domination doesn’t always equal victory.
That was the hard lesson that came to the Boston University women’s soccer team last night, as it played to a scoreless draw against Northeastern University at Nickerson Field.
‘I’m not happy we didn’t play 90 minutes,’ said BU Coach Nancy Feldman. ‘We came out sluggish and we can’t give up 45 minutes of a game and expect in the second 45 to get it done.
‘We need to come out with a bit more urgency.’
In a lackluster first half, BU let Northeastern dominate play for much of the time. Sophomore midfielder Ashley Chassar seemed to be the only Terrier playing with spark, making several good runs down the right wing that ultimately amounted to nothing.
In the second frame, the Terriers turned it around and dominated play. The less-talented Huskies countered the only way they could, and their physical play interrupted any flow the Terriers tried to sustain.
‘I think the referee let too much go, because I think it ended up giving them an advantage that I don’t think they should have had,’ Feldman said. ‘There was a lot of stuff that wasn’t clean and slowed us down and we’re the more technical team. I think our players dealt with it, they didn’t turn around and slug anybody.’
BU created chances, but was never able to get great shots on net. Feldman moved freshman back Susan Marschall up front in the second half and the move paid off. Marshall effectively held the ball and created chances, and the BU attack built off that, using the wings better and testing Northeastern’s back line.
‘She gets her shot off, she gets it on the frame and she holds the ball well as a target player, and those are three things we’re looking for,’ Feldman said. ‘We’re still experimenting because we still haven’t found the scoring production we need.’
Marschall had perhaps the best scoring chance of the second half. After a BU corner kick, she drove a hard left foot on goal, which Northeastern keeper Cynthia Slowik reached back and snagged.
‘I thought we went to the ball better in the second half and got better chances and in general seemed to be attacking better,’ Feldman said.
The Terriers continued their solid play into overtime. They narrowly missed a golden goal when junior midfielder Rebecca Beyer’s volley of a chipped pass from senior midfielder Allison Merkle was saved.
While Feldman was pleased with the team’s play after the break, she still is concerned by its inability to win games, and with time running out on the season, she doesn’t want to see her team drop any more points to opponents it should beat.
‘It’s not over, but when you have the opportunity to get three points and you don’t get three points, it hurts,’ Feldman said.