The Boston University women’s soccer team failed to pick up a win during their two-game road trip to Wisconsin this past weekend. The Terriers fell to Northwestern University in a 2-0 decision Friday, and were shut out again Sunday in a 3-0 loss against Marquette University.
BU (0-3-1) started the match against Northwestern (3-1) aggressively, recording the first two shots of the game in less than seven minutes. The Wildcats did not let the Terriers gain any momentum, though. They put the ball on net effectively, taking two shots and two corner kicks all between the 20th and 22nd minutes of the match. Northwestern ended the first half with five shots, while BU had four.
The Terriers’ senior goalkeeper Alyssa Parisi kept the Wildcats off the board until the 72nd minute when midfielder Kim Jerantowski scored from four yards out, assisted by forward Addie Steiner.
BU battled in hopes of tying the game. Freshman midfielder Julianna Chen recorded two shots after the Wildcats’ goal. Senior forward Jenna Fisher followed with one more, bringing the Terriers total to 10 on the day. Despite BU’s offensive effort, Steiner tallied her second goal of the season in the 87th minute of the match, granting Northwestern the 2-0 victory.
BU coach Nancy Feldman did not indicate whether one match went better than the other, but said she believes her team learned a lot from the losses.
“When you play good competition and you’re challenged, you learn about stuff,” Feldman said. “There are some areas where we need to make improvements. We have a lot of talent. We haven’t quite put it together to be cohesive on the field. We’re not a well-oiled machine yet. If you’re not well organized and coordinated, there’s going to be gaps that show.
“[We have to improve our] unity, how we play as a unit, our confidence and keeping the ball under pressure,” she added. “We need to make the other team work harder defensively.”
Following the first loss, the Terriers played host school Marquette, but to no avail.
The Golden Eagles (2-2) went into the match aggressively, generating a corner kick and a shot within the first five minutes. They tallied four more shots and Parisi made two saves before they found the back of the net 20 minutes into the match.
The Terriers totaled six shots in the half, not far behind Marquette’s seven. The second half proved more difficult for the Terriers to keep up, though.
BU had zero corner kicks in the second half of the match to the Golden Eagles’ six, and they would finish with just two such opportunities for the game. This was also the first game this season in which the Terriers did not register 10 or more shots, as they would finish with nine.
“It’s too early to compare this team to last year’s team,” Feldman said. “This year’s team is this year’s team. It has its own strength and personality.”
Feldman pulled Parisi with about 20 minutes left in the competition to give junior goalkeeper Bridget Conway some playing time after Marquette had accumulated a comfortable 2-0 lead. Conway made one save and let in the final Marquette goal, a header scored by defender Erin Holland.
Feldman said it is hard not to be mentally affected by losing two games, especially two shutouts.
“We go in thinking that we are doing all the right things and you don’t get the results,” she said. “It’s discouraging.”
Feldman did add that in order to become more offensively productive, her team has to work on being patient, and more composed.
“It’s not all dark and dreary,” Feldman said. “There were glimpses of great things. We just have to be consistent with those things.”
