After enduring a roller-coaster start to the season, the Terriers are preparing to enter Patriot League action, starting with a home matchup against the United States Naval Academy Saturday.
In the 2013-14 season, BU had similar success after its non-conference stretch of the schedule, carrying a 5-2-1 record.
“[The Patriot League teams are] all going to be tough,” Feldman said. “It’s a great league. That’s what we learned last year. There’s no day you can take off when you play a Patriot League team.”
Navy may present a challenge to the Terriers, as the Midshipmen (3-2-3) were the only Patriot League team to defeat BU in their 2013-14 season. Another conference foe that BU struggled with last year was American University, which forced the eventually victorious Terriers into overtime on Oct. 27, 2013.
Overall, BU finished 8-1 in Patriot League play in their 2013-14 season, consisting of five games on the road and four at home. Fortunately for this year’s Terriers, its conference schedule will have the reverse format, with five home games and four away.
“[The Patriot League opponents are] organized. They’re hardworking,” Feldman said. “We’re all playing for the same thing, and every team in the conference is good enough to win the championship.”
Stretch of close games continues
For a team sitting just above .500, the Terriers have unsurprisingly played in only close contests this season. In each of BU’s games in its 2014-15 campaign, the outcome has been decided by one goal or less.
Additionally, the Terriers have already played two double-overtime contests, compared to the three they played in the entire 2013-14 season. Also suggesting a competitive balance in its games, BU has outshot its opponents by a narrow 73-61 total for the season.
Feldman said the style of the Terriers’ play could be a possible factor for the close games the team has had so far.
“Our style of play is that we take care of our defending,” she said. “Our goal is to not give our opponents any uncontested shots, so we are definitely focused on our defending. That is a team philosophy and a coach’s philosophy in mind. We do a good job of not allowing good chances for the other team.
“As far as attacking goes, the way we play is a little bit more precision-based and more methodical than maybe some other teams. It may be because that’s the focus, and we’re not pushing the ball up the field and taking shots as fast as we can.”
However, BU’s close contests could just be a factor of not having played in its Patriot League games yet — all of the Terriers’ double-overtime games in the 2013-14 season came against non-conference opponents.
Terriers looking to move past three-game winless skid
After nearly two years of avoiding a loss at home, the Boston University women’s soccer team has now gone three straight games at Nickerson Field without a win.
On Sept. 14, 2012, BU (4-3-1) fell on its home turf to the University of Massachusetts-Amherst 1-0. The loss proved to be significant, as it was the last defeat BU suffered at home until the University of San Francisco bested the Terriers at Nickerson on Sept. 7, 2014.
What seemed to be a fluke, given BU’s modest non-conference schedule and excellent track record at home, became the start of a three-game skid. On Sept. 12, the Terriers lost an early lead to the University of Akron and could not regain the advantage before the final whistle sealed a double-overtime 1-1 draw.
Just two days later, BU returned to Nickerson only to feel a similar disappointment, letting in an 85th minute strike against Northeastern University that handed the Terriers its second loss in three games.
“We set a goal at the beginning of every season that we’re going to win our games at Nickerson Field,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “We feel comfortable here. We feel like we have an advantage here. It’s disappointing when we lose any game, and it’s disappointing when we don’t protect our home field.”
While the Terriers’ woes at home have been in part due to an inefficient offense, their defense has also grown fragile since last season. In five home games so far in the 2014-15 season, BU has allowed five goals. In 11 games at Nickerson last season, including one NCAA Tournament match, BU gave up just one goal.
