Perhaps the biggest factor in the Boston University women’s soccer team’s inconsistent start to the season has been the team’s inability to find and convert chances on goal.
The Terriers (5-3-1, 1-0 Patriot League) rank eighth in the Patriot League, in both goals and shots taken, and have scored only two goals in their past four games.
In addition, all of the team’s contests thus far have been decided by just one score. BU coach Nancy Feldman said although her team has not demonstrated an ability to separate itself from its opponents, the lack of goals hasn’t hindered its performance.
“I don’t put a lot of emphasis on goal scoring,” Feldman said. “My feeling is if we’re winning games 1-0, I’m satisfied. I’d love to pull away from teams that we should pull away from, but there really hasn’t been a team we’ve played against — maybe Akron, if we had scored a couple more goals, we might’ve not ended up in a tie — there really isn’t a game where we’ve left goals on the table.”
Nine games into the season, junior forward Jenna Fisher and senior forward Ana Cuffia remain the only two Terriers with multiple goals, scoring three and two, respectively. Sophomore forward Erica Kosienski, who led the Terriers in scoring last year, has yet to make her mark on the scoreboard.
Feldman said she is not as concerned with finding goals as she is with generating quality scoring chances.
“Goals will come, but right now, my focus is how do we create more goal scoring opportunities rather than how do we create more goals,” Feldman said. “It may not make sense, but that’s where we’re at right now in our team development.
“If we win every game 1-0 for the rest of the season, I’ll be a happy camper. I don’t think we need to score a boatload of goals. If we’re defending like we can defend and we’re turning that into attack and we’re dictating the pace of the game because we keep the ball, I am pretty satisfied.”
Fisher comes into her own
As the Terriers enter the bulk of their conference schedule, Fisher has already established herself as a team leader and playmaker.
Last season, Fisher contributed a key role off the bench, playing in 22 contests, making seven starts and recording two goals and three assists. After stepping into a starting spot this year, Fisher has already eclipsed her scoring total from the 2013 season and looks to carry that success into Patriot League play.
Feldman said the work ethic and determination Fisher brought into the program has helped her progress year after year.
“She’s always worked hard…from day one, she’s been phenomenal,” Feldman said. “So those were things she brought with her that were strengths…Her foundation is still the same — her work ethic, her work rate and her tenacity and her focus every day — and that’s allowed her to develop as fast as she’s developed and become a much more mature player.”
Feldman said Fisher’s biggest area of improvement has come in her ability to remain composed in tough situations.
“She has become a little bit more technical under pressure,” she said. “She has slowed down a little bit if that makes sense. She’s gained a sense of composure on the ball…That’s improved a lot, and I think that’s been the most significant reason why she’s become a better player than when she arrived.”
Fisher has developed a knack for coming up big for the Terriers in clutch situations. In the team’s opening game against La Salle University on Aug. 22, Fisher scored with just seven seconds left on the clock to secure a 2-1 victory.
Just two days later against then-No.19 Boston College, Fisher helped BU erase a 1-0 halftime deficit and earn another 2-1 win. For her efforts, Fisher was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 25.
Saturday afternoon against the United States Naval Academy, the Longmeadow native headed junior defender Lauren MacLellan’s cross into the net, which proved to be the difference maker in the highly competitive contest.
“I just can’t say enough about her as a person, as a team member and as a leader,” Feldman said. “As a coach, that is very rewarding and very satisfying because she has soaked up coaching, and her focus is just tremendous.”
Team defense sees improvement
As the Terriers have continually taken part in close contests, the team has had to rely on its overall team defense, something that Feldman said has grown stronger.
“Just like the offense, the defense is a team activity and a team approach,” she said. “The team defense is coming together. Each of the lines are responding more when we transition and putting the other team under pressure and trying to win the ball back before it gets into our back third.”
One of the biggest challenges that BU has faced this season is the meshing together of a new defensive unit. Only junior defender McKenzie Hollenbaugh and senior defender Kai Miller had significant starting experience in the back line prior to this year.
The Terriers were dealt another blow earlier this month with the loss of sophomore defender Rachel Bloznalis for the season due to injury. In Bloznalis’ absence, freshman defender Alivya Wimmer has stepped up, playing alongside Miller at center back. Feldman has also shifted from a traditional 4-3-3 formation to a 5-2-3 to take less pressure off the back line.
As a leader of both the defense and the team as a whole, Miller has been called upon to play a greater, more challenging role than in past years. Feldman said the center back has taken these added responsibilities in stride and has been instrumental in helping secure the team’s overall defense.
“She is steady, and she is an incredible 1-versus-1 defender,” she said. “She has a great sense of timing. She is incredibly competitive. She’s got a good sense of team defending and how to compact space and when to drop and when to step.
“She’s a captain, so instead of worrying about her own stuff, she’s had to make other people around her better by coaching them up a little bit. She’s growing into that, and I think she’s developed a lot in that area over the next couple of games…We’re asking her to do more, and she’s really growing and stepping into that responsibility.”
Jackie is a sports reporter for The Daily Free Press and has previously served as Managing Editor and Associate Sports Editor of the FreeP. At this moment, she's probably watching Shark Tank and thinking of ways to work, "and for that reason, I'm out," into casual conversations. Please send all inquiries in the form of a box combo from Cane's with no coleslaw and extra fries or follow her on Twitter at @jackie_bam
