Offensive woes strike women’s soccer in loss to San Francisco

An uncharacteristic stretch of offensive futility plagued the Boston University women’s soccer team throughout Sunday afternoon’s contest at Nickerson Field against the University of San Francisco.

While the Terriers (4-2) continually held the ball in the USF (3-2-1) defensive half, they could not convert and fell, 1-0.

“I thought we weren’t creating enough chances in the final third,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “We were kind of settling for service. We saw that change a little bit in the second half, we started setting up in the final third and establishing more play to feet, but I think we wasted 45 minutes not establishing ourselves.”

BU’s struggle to create solid chances on goal was particularly evident in the first half. An early goal from Dons defender Jessica Nakae in the 10th minute forced the Terriers to go into catch-up mode. The sense of urgency was imminent, as BU forwards and midfielders, particularly senior forward Taylor Krebs, sent a multitude of crosses and through balls into the penalty box, but time after time the crosses failed to connect with a white-shirted player.

Midway through the first frame and still without a true shot on goal, Feldman made a series of offensive-minded substitutes in hopes that they would spark the Terrier attack. Sophomore forward Erica Kosienski, freshman forward Christina Wakefield, sophomore midfielder Alexandra Cooper and freshman defender Erin Neville brought new energy into the contest. Almost immediately after the substitutes stepped on the field, senior forward Ana Cuffia placed the Terriers’ first shot on goal of the half.

Later, in the 36th minute, Kosienski had perhaps BU’s best chance of the game off of a well-executed give-and-go that brought her to within mere feet of the goal, but defender Ali Schaffer executed a well-timed slide tackle to keep the Terriers off the scoreboard. Just before time expired, Neville sent a dangerous ball into the box off of a free kick, but USF goalkeeper Madalyn Schiffel was in perfect position to corral it.

The second half saw much more controlled play from the Terriers. Straight off of the opening kickoff, BU quickly earned a scoring chance when a through ball was sent in for Cuffia, who was unable to get a touch on it before the ball rolled into Schiffel’s hands. In the 64th minute, a Krebs corner kick found its way to junior defender McKenzie Hollenbaugh, whose shot went just wide of the goal frame.

Feldman’s squad earned one more scoring chance when Cooper played a leading ball out wide to Wakefield, who played a beautiful cross into a running Cuffia. Unfortunately, the ball flew just out of the forward’s outstretched stride.

After the game, Feldman noted that the team’s lackluster start hindered BU’s ability to put together strong chances toward the end of the game.

“I think if we had started the game better, we wouldn’t have been fatigued at the end because we were fighting uphill,” Feldman said. “That poor start affected us. As far as playing better and getting more shots, that’s about practicing and growing.”

With the absence of top defender Leticia Torres due to Chilean National Team duty, USF coach Jim Millinder made the strategic decision to play most of the game with just three defenders in the final back line. While Feldman acknowledged that the Dons defense made things difficult for her team, she put the responsibility for the failure to create chances on the Terrier offense.

“They were very solid, very sure in the back, but then you got to do something more and better,” Feldman said. “We were setting in the first half because we were running out of ideas and weren’t really recognizing that we had to play in front to get behind them. I give them credit, but I’d like to be able to see us break down that steady, sure defending because we’re going to see that more and more.

“We have to grow with our composure and attack.”