W. soccer hoping for retaliation vs. Harvard, UConn

Revenge. It's a simple seven-letter word.

For the Boston University women's soccer team, there isn't a more appropriate term in the English language to describe its next two games against Harvard University Thursday and the University of Connecticut Sunday.

"This week is an important week for us," said BU coach Nancy Feldman. "It's an important week because we have a goal to be .500 in non-conference play. That was one of our goals looking at our very competitive schedule. We thought it was a fair goal, and it still can be achieved. But we have to get it done this week."

Last season &- Sept. 20, 2009, to be exact &- after going nearly 400 minutes and three weeks without scoring a goal up until that point, the Terriers (3-5-0) finally broke through and found the back of the net versus the Crimson (1-2-1), when then-freshman Megan McGoldrick scored her first collegiate goal in the 28th minute in a 1-0 BU win at Nickerson Field.

But that was then.

Now it's 2010 &- another season, another chance for Harvard to make up for its narrow loss to BU in the teams' only meeting in 2009.

McGoldrick will not even be available for today's contest because she is out for the entire season with an injury to her anterior cruciate ligament.

Coming off a weekend at Charlottesville, Va. for the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic, BU will be facing Harvard at Ohiri Field after upsetting then-No. 22 College of William &' Mary last Friday but then falling to then-No. 12 University of Virginia this Sunday.

After a 1-0-1 start to its 2010 campaign, the Crimson has faltered in its past two games, losing to both the University of Central Florida, 3-0, and the University of South Florida, 2-1. The BU backline &- led by tri-captains Lina Cords and Corie Halasz &- will need to focus on forwards Katherine Sheeleigh and Patricia Yau, who pace the Crimson offense with one goal and two assists apiece.

"They're both really good attacking players, very quick and dynamic," Feldman said. "They have good pace, and they're both quality. They're both similar in abilities and very talented players. We have to keep our backline organized and tight, and we have to keep Sheeleigh and Yau in front of us."

Graduate student Lisa Kevorkian (team-leading five goals) and junior forward Jessica Luscinski (two goals, one assist) will be the ones counted upon to get the ball past Harvard keeper Alexandra Millet, who has started all four games for the Crimson, recording 17 saves and contributing one shutout in her 359 minutes between the posts.

Sunday's contest is no different, except for the fact that BU's role is reversed this time around.

The Terriers return to Nickerson seeking revenge in a grudge match versus the Huskies (4-2-1) &- the same squad that bounced BU in the first round of last year's NCAA tournament.

"I'm sure it's on the mind of the kids who are returners," Feldman said of her team's mentality heading into its rematch against UConn. "I'm sure it is. After the game tomorrow, I'm sure they'll be thinking of the opportunity they have to take it back at UConn."

On Nov. 13, 2009, defender Brittany Taylor's rocket into the upper right 90 with less than two minutes remaining in double overtime propelled UConn to the second round and sent BU packing in the first round of the tournament for the fourth straight year.

Luckily for the Terriers, Taylor has graduated, giving BU at least some sort of relief and one less player to be worried about.

"She was a fantastic player and was the difference in last year's game," Feldman said. "It seems like she was at UConn forever."

But things won't get any easier, as the Terriers will have their hands full marking forwards Jessica Shufelt (5 goals, 1 assist) and Melissa Busque (3 goals, 2 assists), not to mention containing the Huskies' central playmaker in midfielder Elise Fugowski, who leads UConn with three assists.

With two wins in its next two games, BU would set itself up nicely for America East conference play in a few weeks. Some recognition on the national level could also be achieved as well.

"In these two games, we can put ourselves in a really good position by starting the conference feeling good about ourselves by our performances and also by keeping ourselves in a position for rankings, at-large bids and RPI, which will be important if we need to get an at-large NCAA bid if we don't win the conference," Feldman said.