Despite high shot, totals finally yield results on the scoreboard

The Boston University women’s soccer team does not have a problem getting shots on goal ‘- BU has out-shot its opponents 113-97 this season ‘- but the Terriers have not been able to finish. The Terriers had gone over 400 minutes without scoring a goal and hadn’t won a game since Aug. 30, until last night.

Both of these streaks came to an end when the Terriers defeated Harvard University, 1-0, in a return to Nickerson Field, thanks in large part to a freshman’s first career goal, and the revival of a once dormant offense.

Freshman midfielder Megan McGoldrick scored the game winner in the 28th minute with a left-footed shot into the right corner of the goal. The last time BU had found the back of the net was on Sept. 6 when senior forward Farrell McClernon scored in the 78th minute of a 1-1 draw against Loyola College.

McGoldrick’s goal infused life into an offense that was really struggling to score. BU outshot Harvard 9-2 in the first half and 15-7 in total, putting six of those 15 shots on goal.

The revival of the offense is also due to McClernon’s play. She led the team with five shots and put one of them on frame. Throughout the game, McClernon kept attacking the Crimson defenders, doing all she could to end BU’s scoreless streak. Her performance and involvement in every offensive play in the first half indicated a goal of her own was on the way.

McClernon’s aggressiveness and hustle also led to four out of BU’s six offside calls.

‘We talked about [offsides] at the beginning of the season,’ BU coach Nancy Feldman said. ‘It doesn’t bother me that much because I like us being right on the edge.’

As the game continued, BU’s offense began looking better and better. BU held longer possessions and kept the ball in Harvard’s defensive third throughout the second half.

Once the offense got going, ball distribution improved, resulting in good through balls from the midfield, more shooting opportunities and accurate crosses from out wide. Senior forward Taleen Dimirdjian nearly put the game away for BU with a header in the last 10 minutes off a left-sided cross, only to see Harvard goalkeeper Lauren Mann make an incredible save.’

Feldman said she was very impressed with the offense’s performance last night.

‘I think we’re starting to move the ball like I think we can,’ she said. ‘It’s not as fluid as I know we can get, but it’s getting there.’

Feldman expects the offense as a whole to get better from this point on.

‘We haven’t arrived yet, but we’re definitely making strides, and I think we’re getting our confidence back,’ she said. ‘We’re going to move this thing along, and we’re going to become a more fluid attack.’