Nine wins in nine home games.
Now that’s what you call defending the home turf.
With its 5-0 trouncing of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon, the Boston University women’s soccer team remained unbeaten at home this season, posting a perfect record of 9-0-0 at Nickerson Field.’
‘[Staying undefeated at home] is a goal we set every year,’ BU coach Nancy Feldman said. ‘I’m proud of them. They set it as a goal. When you set goals at the beginning of preseason, it’s easy to say stuff. You can make a list of all the things you want to do. But to go out there and do it and to accomplish it, they should be proud.’
Against their opponents ‘-‘- the University of Rhode Island, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Binghamton University, the University of Vermont, the University of Hartford, Bryant University and UMBC ‘-‘- the Terriers have been women among girls in the confines of Nickerson Field.
In nine home games, BU has outscored its foes by an astonishing 27-1 margin. BU also holds a massive statistical advantage in shots, 184-38, and in corners drawn, 77-19.
Not to be overlooked by the Terrier offense is the rock solid Terrier defense and the goalkeeping play of senior goalkeeper Janie Reilly. Reilly and her defenders have only allowed one goal at Nickerson Field, where they have also picked up eight out of their 11 shutouts this season.
Having earned the number one seed in America East, the Terriers have received a first-round bye and will host a semifinal game on Nov. 1 against the winner of the University of Albany-Stony Brook University matchup.
But, most importantly, BU has wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the America East Tournament, which is something that pleases Feldman.
‘We’re comfortable here,’ she said. ‘We know the surface, and we know how it plays. We feel it’s an advantage. But it’s only an advantage if we bring a special level of play. We’re going to give it our all, particularly on our home field.’
How important was it for the Terriers to clinch home field advantage for the AE tournament?
‘It’s huge,’ senior captain Mara Osher said. ‘We love playing at home. Nickerson is so good, and our home crowd is awesome. And it really just takes a lot of other environmental factors out of the picture so we can really just focus on us.”
The Terriers are heavily favored to repeat as America East champions for the seventh time this decade and to make its fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
But before the latter can occur, the former has to be accomplished first.
And it all begins on Nov. 1 at Nickerson Field, where BU seeks to defend its conference title and its home turf against either Albany or Stony Brook.
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