At the beginning of the season, Boston University women’s soccer coach Nancy Feldman and her team laid out a specific goal for the regular season: to get the No. 1 seed in the America East Tournament.
“Our goal all along was to get the highest seed possible,” Feldman said. “We realize the advantage the number one team has in getting a bye and hosting [games at home] – two great advantages, and we’ve been shooting for that.”
Today at Nickerson Field, the Terriers (9-4-4, 5-0-1 America East) will get the chance to clinch the top seed in the conference with a win over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (9-6-1, 3-2-1).
“[This game] is very important,” Feldman said. “Credit the team and the players for being in a position to get it done.”
The Terriers will need a strong effort from the defense today, particularly in marking Retriever forward Jessica Young.
The sophomore striker has scored 12 goals this season, for a conference-best 0.75 goals per game. She is averaging 1.56 points per game and has a flair for the dramatic, netting a league-high six game-winning goals.
“In my mind [she’s] the key attacking player for them,” Feldman said. “She had great speed – probably the fastest player in the conference. We have to be very aware of where she is and when we’re in transition, make sure she doesn’t get behind [our defense].”
Young is paired with Amanda DiCarlo up front. The junior forward has scored 10 goals this year in 15 games, only six of them starts. Her 0.67 goals per game puts her third in the conference and her 1.33 points per game ranks fifth.
Both DiCarlo and Young were held scoreless in the Retrievers’ most recent game, a 1-0 loss to the University of Vermont on Sunday.
Retriever goalkeeper Catie Bukowski got the loss in that game, despite making eight saves. The freshman has been busy all year, making almost six saves per game, but playing well enough to go 6-3-1 with four shutouts and a 0.97 goals-against average.
Bukowski has been a strong last line of defense for a Retrievers team that allows 12.4 shots per game – a number that must have Terrier attackers salivating.
BU has averaged a whopping 17.2 shots per game this year and peppered UMBC with 32 shots in a 2-1 win last year in Baltimore.
While the Terriers’ 32-8 shot advantage last year screamed domination, Feldman said that the Retrievers never broke under the pressure, and she expects them to do the same today.
“We know they fight hard for 90 minutes,” she said. “They play very physically, they’re well-coached, they battle and they have a great competitive mentality.
“We know that’s what we’re gonna see. It’s not going to be walk in the park by any means. We’ll have to bring our A game.”
If the Terriers do bring their “A game” and get the win, they could rest in comfort, preparing for a home America East Tournament game.
“We’re in a position to get it done,” Feldman said. “We’ve approached each game with focus and concentration and it can all come together [today] if we take care of business.”
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