The Boston University women’s soccer team hopes to earn its sixth straight win when it goes up against America East opponent, the University of Vermont, Thursday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Nickerson Field, where the Terriers are undefeated, posting a home record of 5-0-0.
‘We’re very comfortable playing at Nickerson Field,’ BU coach Nancy Feldman said. ‘We don’t have to make many adjustments because we already know what we’re going to get when we play at home.’
The Terriers (7-4-2, 3-0-0 America East), after defeating the University of New Hampshire 4-2 on Sunday afternoon, extended their league unbeaten streak to 18 games. The Catamounts (1-7-3, 1-0-2 AE) are coming off their first win of the season, a 6-5 victory over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County last Sunday.
Just like BU, UVM is unbeaten in three league games so far. Vermont kicked off America East play Sept. 27 with a hard-fought, 1-1, double-overtime draw against the University at Albany. The Catamounts followed up that performance with another grueling 110 minutes of soccer against the University of Maine, in a game that ended in a 0-0 tie.
‘ The Terriers are 9-2-2 all time against the Catamounts and have yet to be beaten by Vermont in their last four meetings (three wins, one tie). In 2008, BU came out victorious against UVM in one of its best all-around performances of the season with a 4-0 win at Centennial Field.
In America East play, BU has outscored its opponents 8-2 with senior goalkeeper Janie Reilly recording two shutouts in those contests. The Terriers have also outshot their first three league opponents, Binghamton University, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Maine by a combined total of 51-25.
Vermont, on the other hand, lags behind its opponents in goals, 13-22, and shots, 131-210, through its first 11 games of the season.
BU will rely heavily on the play of senior Farrell McClernon, America East Co-Player of the Week Emily Pallotta, sophomore Jessica Luscinski and senior Taleen Dimirdjian to power an offense that has scored 11 goals in its last five games.
Luscinski leads all America East players with three assists in league play, while Pallotta has unleashed 11 shots to lead all America East players in that category.
Reilly is tied for second in goals against average (0.67) and save percentage (0.846) amongst America East goalkeepers.
Senior goalkeeper Eliza Bradley will be in net for Vermont. The Catamounts will depend on her to keep BU off the score sheet. In her 1,165 minutes in net, she has allowed 20 goals and recorded 76 saves.’
On offense, UVM will be led by senior midfielder and America East Co-Player of the Week Carson Laderoute (3 goals, 3 assists), junior midfielder Gabby Bonfigli (3g), and junior forward Jessica Becker (2g, 2a) to attack a stingy BU defense that has allowed only three goals during its five game winning streak. America East Rookie of the Week Jess Herbst is coming off a two-goal performance against UMBC last Sunday, in which she recorded her first two collegiate goals as a Catamount.’
‘Because of the experience we have on our team and the number of seniors, they’re very aware of the importance of each and every game,’ Feldman told GoTerriers.com. ‘You get a chance to take three points every time you meet up with a conference opponent and once that game is over you don’t have a chance to grab those three points again. I think our team is very good at taking it one game at a time.’
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