Happy to be back at Nickerson Field, the Boston University women’s soccer team silenced Harvard University to continue its undefeated play at home by thrashing the Crimson by a final score of 3-0.
“It’s good to get back on the winning track,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “The kids feel really comfortable playing at Nickerson Field and want to protect Nickerson field, protect their field and they came out with that attitude.”
The Terriers (6-2-1) came into the Harvard game having lost two consecutive games at the hands of regional rivals the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts, both games in which they were unable to score.
As early as the 22nd minute of Wednesday’s game, BU proved that playing Harvard (3-2-0) would be a different situation entirely.
After spending the first 20 minutes of regulation evenly paced, the Terriers broke the game open when sophomore midfielder Kylie Strom broke away from the pack for an unassisted goal, her third of the season.
“We needed that,” Strom said of scoring the team’s first goal in three games. “It was a rough weekend and we needed to just keep moving forward.”
Less than ten minutes later, the New York native scored her team leading fourth goal of the season on a free kick from 18-yards out.
“She’s talented,” Feldman said of Strom, “so if she can keep this same attitude of not expecting much from herself every day and continuing to improve, she’s going to do really well here and be a real important player for us not only this year but in the future.”
While Strom’s offensive abilities defined the first half, the second half of the game was marked by freshman defenseman Kai Miller who scored her first collegiate goal in the 57th minute.
“It was a little unpredictable, her movement, and that’s a good sign,” Feldman said. “It was a wonderful thing to see her sophistication and her reaction to it and having the confidence.”
Miller was able to place a shot over Crimson goalkeeper Cheta Emba’s head after receiving a throw-in from senior midfielder Jessica Luscinski.
Luscinski, who had not played since pulling a muscle during the Terriers’ game against the University of Washington, came away with the assist and had three shots, two of which were on goal.
“It’s great to have her back,” Feldman said of Luscinski, who played in 40 minutes of the game. “She brings an element and what’s her element? She’s dynamic, she is a good attacking player, quick, feisty, active, she knows how to move off the ball really well. It’s great to have her back . We missed her.
“I thought we did pretty well without her and filled the holes and we’re pretty deep, but she’s the attacking MVP of the conference. She’s a good attacking player and it’s great that we have her back. We need her.”
Rounding out the Terriers’ turn-around effort was senior goalkeeper Alice Binns, who won her third shutout of the season. Binns had four saves and earned her fourth win of the season.
“She’s just been a really great player for us over the last two years,” Feldman said. “Really solid and she has such tremendous focus in goal. She’s not the biggest kid around.
“She doesn’t look like the prototypical goalkeeper but she’s really effective and she just, she does really well keeping the ball out of the net.”
While Feldman was pleased with her team’s performance, she still noticed some of the inconsistencies that marred BU’s games against UConn and UMass, something that she hopes her team can improve upon in the coming games.
“In spurts I thought we played well,” Feldman said. “I don’t think we played consistently well. I thought we worked hard, we fought hard and we saw glimpses of what we’re capable of.
“I’m talking more on the attack. Just imprinting our style a little better and keeping possession better but it wasn’t consistent enough and we’ve got a bit of work to do.”
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