The Boston University women’s soccer team will travel to Hamilton, New York Friday to play the United States Naval Academy in the semifinal round of the Patriot League tournament.
The Terriers (12-4-3, 6-1-2 Patriot League) earned the second seed in the tournament, with Colgate University being first overall. Because of their ranking, the Terriers earned a first-round bye and were able to sit back as No. 3 Navy (12-3-5, 6-1-2 Patriot League) defeated No. 6 Loyola University-Maryland by a score of 4-1 on Tuesday.
BU coach Nancy Feldman stressed the importance of earning a bye in the tournament.
“I always think it’s an advantage not to play one more game and to get further in the tournament,” Feldman said. “It’s good to be getting extra rest. It’s important. This is what you play for, to try and pass the quarterfinal round.”
Earlier this season on Sept. 20, the Terriers played Navy at Nickerson Field. Junior forward Jenna Fisher scored the lone goal of that game in the 60th minute, giving BU a 1-0 victory.
The Midshipmen have thrived this year thanks in large part to their offense, as they have registered a whopping 38 goals — tops in the Patriot League. BU follows closely behind with 30 goals this year.
On offense, Navy is led by senior Morgan Dankanich, whose 62 shots, six goals and 19 points this year make her one of the top playmakers in the Patriot League. Navy also has capable offensive weapons in forward Clare MacAdam and defenders Jade Seabrook and Julie Schumacher. The three have combined for 10 goals and 16 assists this season.
“They’re a good team. They’re really physical,” Feldman said. “We are going to have to be up to the challenge and win all our battles and try to neutralize what they’re good at. We’re going to have to be really good at dealing with those aerial balls and getting the ball down on the ground and trying to play within our position and our mobility.”
The Terriers have also played well down the stretch, having won four of their last five games. They have been recognized for their spectacular play, as five players were voted to the All-Patriot League teams. Along with Fisher, who is third in the league in points and goals scored, senior midfielder Jamie Turchi and senior defender Kai Miller were named to the All-Patriot League first team. Junior midfielder McKenzie Hollenbaugh and senior defender Ariana Aston were selected to the All-Patriot League Third Team.
In addition, freshman forward Christina Wakefield recently earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal against Bucknell University in the Terrier’s last regular-season game on Saturday.
The Terriers will look to advance without one of their leading scorers in sophomore forward Erica Kosienski, who suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the year. Other Terriers, such as Wakefield, have stepped up in her absence, providing more than enough firepower to keep the team in the win column.
Feldman said her team knows what it will take to earn their second consecutive Patriot League Tournament title and they are ready to step up to the challenge.
“We’ve got to do what we’ve been doing all year long,” she said. “[We need to] take it one game at a time, focus on doing the little things well and try to imprint our style on Navy.”
