After suffering through a scoreless weekend against both the University of Connecticut and the University of Massachusetts, the Boston University women’s soccer team ended the two-game goal drought on Wednesday night against the Harvard University Crimson in a big way, netting three goals en route to an easy win.
Sophomore midfielder Kylie Strom contributed two of the three goals, doubling her season total and giving the Terriers some much-needed relief and confidence after the losses against UConn and UMass.
“We needed that,” Strom said. “It was a rough weekend and we just have to keep moving forward. It was good to finally be home. It was a good win.”
The Endicott, N.Y. native scored the first goal of the game and her third on the season at the 22nd minute, taking the ball down to the net from the midfield line. She put the second in the net off an 18-yard free kick from senior Brittany Heist, whom Strom credited for both goals.
According to the Strom, “On the first one [Heist] ran the decoy run and the defense followed her and opened the lane right up and then on the second one, actually, yesterday she was like, ‘Hey, wanna go take some free kicks before practice?’ and we just hit repetition after repetition right in that exact spot.”
Last year, Strom had three goals and 21 shots in 22 games in five starts for the Terriers. She also added nine assists last season, the most among America East Conference players. Her performance was good enough to earn her a spot on the AE All-Rookie Team and the AE All-Championship Team.
So far this year, she has not recorded an assist, but her four goals have been valuable to the team.
BU coach Nancy Feldman called both of Strom’s goals “very important” and said Strom was the “man of the match” on Wednesday night after the losses on the weekend.
“She is being counted on for a lot of minutes and for a lot of physical play,” Feldman said of her midfielder after the game, “She’s really been a key element all the way up to this point.”
Feldman credited Strom’s work ethic for her performance against the Crimson, noting the sophomore hasn’t missed a practice or a game so far this season, but also that the team needs to find more ways to get her some rest.
“She’s been a horse — she hasn’t missed a day,” Feldman said. “She shows up ready to go in practice. She’s standing out in practice, she’s standing out in games. She’s got a bright future in front of her.”
Strom’s first goal of the season came in the Terriers’ first win of 2011, a 2-0 shutout against the Northeastern University Huskies, a goal which came off a rebound in just the fourth minute, Strom hit the back of the net unassisted.
Her second goal came last Monday against the University of Portland Pilots in Seattle, Wash., the Terriers second game of the Husky/Nike Invitational. With 20:13 remaining in the game, Strom scored BU’s second goal to seal the win against another ranked opponent.
Wednesday night, coming off a game Feldman called “disjointed” and a “poor performance,” and playing an opponent who had just beat both owners of the Terriers’ losses, Strom said there was some pressure when BU took the field against the Crimson.
“You can never take any team too lightly,” she said. “They [Harvard] just beat UConn, who we lost to, so we knew it was going to be a good match. We were ready to play, we were excited, but you always have that nervousness in your mind.”
With another Ivy League opponent coming to Nickerson Field on Sunday at 2 p.m. and with the entire conference schedule looming in front of the Terriers, Strom said the victory gives BU some confidence going forward with a single objective in mind – building on the momentum from the Harvard win.
“After Sunday we have conference,” she said. “So we’ve got to keep winning.”
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