After a brutal early-season schedule filled with narrow losses to ranked opposition, the Boston University women's soccer team finally caught a break. The Terriers took to the road this weekend to participate in the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic and earned a split in the process. A 3-0 loss to No. 12 University of Virginia was preceded by the Terriers' 3-1 upset of No. 22 College of William &' Mary.
The Terriers (3-5-0) entered the weekend looking for their first victory over a nationally ranked opponent in two years. In their three matches against NCAA-ranked teams so far in 2010, BU had come away empty-handed with a cluster of one-goal defeats.
Graduate student Lisa Kevorkian made sure that was put to a stop right away. The impactful forward leveled up a shot just 44 seconds into the contest against William &' Mary (4-1-1) that found the corner of the net.
"What she did in the game was lead the way in aggressiveness," said BU coach Nancy Feldman. "We felt like she had lost some of her edge in the past two games so we talked about that with her. Lisa then went out and did what she needed to do."
Kevorkian would add another goal 25 minutes later for her fifth of the season. After receiving a pass from junior midfielder Jessica Luscinski, Kevorkian slid a shot into the far post to give the Terriers a 2-0 lead. A dominant first half saw the Terriers launching seven shots to William &' Mary's two.
The Tribe did ramp things up after the break, looking to maintain their undefeated record for the season. William &' Mary made nine attempts on goal in the second half but only one found the net in freshman Audrey Barry's strike in the 64th minute. The goal proved to be too little, too late for the side from Williamsburg, Va., as Luscinski had already given the Terriers a safe 3-0 lead three minutes earlier.
"To me, this game really wasn't an upset," Feldman said. "I saw us walking onto the field as equal teams and we played a very inspired game, especially in the final third."
For the first time in the season, BU used only one goalkeeper. Freshman Kelly King, who usually splits games with junior Alice Binns, played the full 90 minutes. Feldman noted that she saw no need to make a change after King's play in the first half.
BU's second match in the tournament proved to be less successful. The defense was able to hold an impressive Virginia side scoreless for the first 45 minutes before a pair of goals by Sinead Farrelly led the home team to an easy 3-0 victory. Caroline Miller notched the other Cavalier goal.
"Virginia was just a better team," Feldman said. "They're one of the top teams in the country, and we were playing on their home field. The first 15 minutes in the second half were going to be key, and they just had too many personality players. We had a couple slip-ups, and they turned them into goals."
Virginia out-chanced BU in almost every respect. The Tribe had 23 shots to the Terriers' six and was able to gain seven corner kicks while conceding only two.
Feldman returned to the goalkeeping rotation commonly seen throughout the year as Binns and King both played a half. Binns was able to keep a clean sheet in the first half before King allowed all three of the team's goals after the break.
The Terriers will return to Boston to play across the river against unranked Harvard University Thursday afternoon.</p>
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