Despite having suffered a pair of injuries while deep in enemy territory in California, the Boston University women’s soccer team has safely returned home from the Stanford Nike Invitational, able-bodied and eager to return to the win column.
BU (3–4–1) dropped 1–0 losses to both No. 5 Stanford University (3–1–1) and Santa Clara University (2–2–2) on Friday and Sunday. BU coach Nancy Feldman said she recognized positive aspects about her team’s collective play, and that she was not wholly unsatisfied with the tough results.
“I was very pleased with our performance Friday night,” Feldman said “The kids really played very, very well together and very intelligently and with a lot of composure and confidence given the prestige and the ranking of the Stanford team.”
The Terrier-Cardinal matchup was a true gridlock between top-tier forces for nearly the entire 90 minutes of play. The defending NCAA champions proved to be the early aggressor when a pair of shots was fired by Natalie Griffen and Lo’eau LaBonta in the sixth and seventh minute had to be turned aside by junior goalkeeper Andrea Green. In the first half alone, Green made an impressive total of six saves.
“The good news is that we didn’t give up a ton of open, uncontested shots,” Feldman said. “But the two or three that we did, Andrea was there to save the day.”
In the second half, Green tacked on another two saves to come within one of her career high of nine. But with less than two minutes left in the game, Stanford snuck one of its backs, Alina Garciamendez, to the front lines, where the senior central defender struck one just beyond the reach of Green.
The Terriers, unable to do any damage with even a single shot on goal in the initial 89 minutes of the battle, failed to close the deficit in the final minute.
BU did record six shots in the game, but did not register a single one on target. Junior forward Madison Clemens led the team with two shots on the day.
Two days later, the Terriers found themselves fighting on an entirely new, yet equally hostile front, Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University. BU began the game with a corner kick opportunity exactly one minute into the match, followed by the game’s first shot during the fourth minute. The Terriers failed to capitalize on either early chance and were ultimately outshot by the Broncos 17–9.
Only one of the SCU’s shots managed to reach the back of the net, and, like Stanford, the Broncos were unable to do this until the second half. The single goal scored by Santa Clara marked a lone deficiency in an otherwise well-orchestrated defensive approach.
Feldman praised the work of one defender in particular — senior Jessica Morrow
“Jessica Morrow has just been sensational as a center back for us,” Feldman said. “She’s doing a yeoman’s work in the air, winning air-balls … and I think Jess did a really good job in the back third of the field winning air-balls on both corner plays and set pieces.
“She’s not the only one, but I think she’s standing out to me as someone who’s really doing a terrific job keeping our back line organized, and that’s really where it starts.”
While BU was not held without a shot on goal in this game, the team’s offense did not improve by much. Junior defender Erin Mullen and junior midfielder Megan McGoldrick tallied the only two shots on goal in the game, both of which were stopped by Santa Clara goalkeeper Andi Tostanoski.
On the weekend, the Terriers earned far fewer corner kicks than their opponents. Stanford and Santa Clara combined for 13 corner kicks over the weekend to the Terriers four over the two games.
The Terriers return to their headquarters at Nickerson Field this Friday, where the team will look to regain its momentum against a much more familiar foe, the Minutewomen of University of Massachusetts.
“I think there’s a lot of similarities [between BU and UMass],” Feldman said. “We’re disappointed with last year’s result, and while this is a new team I think the kids that were on the team last year are hoping to have a better performance against them.”
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