After facing stiff competition early in the season, the Boston University women’s soccer team has successfully turned around their season with a 3–0 record against America East opponents.
Two victories over University at Albany and University of Maine, as well as a 2–1 overtime win over University of Vermont on Sunday, have given the Terriers a 7–5–1 record on the year and a tie with Hartford for first place in the America East standings.
In the three America East conference games this year, BU has averaged about 10 more shots per game than their opponents and has received goals from five different players, a testament to the strengthening of the team’s offensive play.
The Terriers have now won 26 straight games against America East opponents.
“I think we have good talent on our team — we have hard working players who are really motivated to get better,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “They have strong pride in the history of the program and they want to continue to be successful. I think all of those have led to progress being made and being better this week than we were on Aug. 4 when we started practicing.”
Despite all of these factors, Feldman said the team’s great play has been primarily because of the will to win a final championship.
“We are extremely motivated to win the conference regular season championship,” Feldman said. “We want to win it this year. It’s our final year in the conference. It’s important to us that we exit as champions.”
Clemens Named Player of the Week
Junior forward Madison Clemens had an impressive week, as she scored three goals in two games for the Terriers, including a golden goal against Vermont.
As a result of her stellar play, Clemens was named America East Player of the Week on Monday.
Clemens helped give BU a 2–0 lead last Thursday against Maine and followed it up by scoring both of the team’s goals against Vermont last Sunday.
With six games remaining in the regular season, Clemens has already matched her season-high in goals from last year with six.
Feldman said she was happy to hear about Clemens being recognized for her efforts.
“It’s wonderful,” Feldman said. “She’s talented, she works hard, she really tries to apply stuff and has really worked on getting better. She comes in prepared … she wants to carry the team, she wants to be the one that can be counted on to score the big goals. I’m just really pleased for her.”
The Road Ahead for BU
The Terriers will travel down to Maryland to take on the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The UMBC Retrievers have a record of 1–8–3 with an 0–2–1 record in America East conference play.
Despite the Retrievers’ lackluster record, Feldman said she will not take her opponents lightly.
Feldman noted the strong play of goalkeeper Lauren Kadet, who has kept the Retrievers competitive with a .813 save percentage and a 1.35 goals against average in 12 starts.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Feldman said. “They have a great keeper [Kadet]. She’s fantastic, she keeps them in games, so while they may be letting up a lot of shots, she is a difference maker.
“She’s a player that can win the game for them. We’re going to have to get a lot of quality shots and get into the box and not settle for long range shots.”
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