Four individual awards is great and a regular season title is all well and good, but the Boston University women’s soccer team will find out what it’s really made of starting tonight at Nickerson Field.
The Terriers face the University of New Hampshire tonight at 6 p.m. in the America East Tournament semifinals.
The Wildcats (8-4-4, 5-2-2 America East) are coming off a resounding 7-2 victory over Northeastern University in Durham, N.H. on Tuesday in the opening round of the tournament. Sophomore forward Jackie Wishoski was the offensive star in the contest, totaling 11 points on five goals and an assist.
New Hampshire and BU met once this season, with the Terriers taking the win, 2-0, at Nickerson on Oct. 19. Sophomores Susan Marschall and Melissa Shulman each scored a goal and the Terriers held the dynamic duo of Wishoski and Chiara Best to zero shots on goal. While New Hampshire only plays with two forwards, the pair has combined for 29 of the 34 goals the Wildcats have scored this season.
BU coach Nancy Feldman said neutralizing Wishoski and Best will be a tough task the second time around, especially when the two know what to expect from the Terrier defense.
‘We are going to have to be very good with our positions,’ Feldman said. ‘We did that in the first game by not allowing them behind us, but we can’t give them a lot of room to play and we need to limit their touches or else they are going to start to feel it a little bit.’
BU (11-5-4, 7-1-1) has had a full week to prepare for New Hampshire since clinching the regular season conference crown and a bye in the first round of the tournament on Nov. 1. Feldman said the week off has been nice for players like Shulman, senior Rebecca Beyer and sophomore Meghann Cook, who have all been nursing injuries.
Feldman said she is looking for sophomore Ashley Chassar to help fill a void left by the injury to senior back Lesley Garvey. Susan Marschall will slide back to defense, allowing Chassar to start at midfield.
‘Ashley has proven to be a very good option,’ Feldman said. ‘She gives us some different things from what Susan gave us but she needs to be a little bit better in the air.’
More importantly, Feldman said the key to tonight’s matchup might be whether the Terriers open the game with a strong push.
‘I think we have to start well against New Hampshire because they are coming in flying pretty high,’ Feldman said. ‘They are in a good position, but we are going to have to be up to speed. I don’t think you can give up 15 minutes in a playoff game and be able to recover from it. Maybe you can but I don’t want to be in the position.
‘They are really good defensively, and they are not going to give us much,’ she added. ‘We are going to have to be real dynamic to create opportunities.’
In the other semifinal game, the University of Hartford takes on the University of Maine at 3 p.m., also at Nickerson Field. The Black Bears beat the University of Maryland, Baltimore County 3-1 on Tuesday to advance.
Feldman said she thinks both semifinal games will be one or two-goal affairs because the four remaining teams are skilled and patient enough to know what to expect from their opponents.
The winners of Friday’s games meet in the finals of the America East Tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Nickerson Field.