Women’s soccer dominates Colgate in Patriot League final rematch

In a rematch of the 2014 Patriot League championship game, the Boston University women’s soccer team offered more of the same Wednesday night, generating scoring chances on offense and pressuring the ball on defense to come away with a 2-0 win against Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. It is the Terriers’ sixth consecutive game without a loss.

Playing through strong winds and cold temperatures, the Terriers (4-4-3, 2-0-1 Patriot League) relied on strong defensive play from their back line to win the possession battle and increase their shots on goal. Thanks to goals from senior midfielder Clare Pleuler and sophomore midfielder Jesse Shreck in the second half, BU notched its first road win of the season and handed the Raiders (3-6-1, 1-1-1 Patriot League) their first league loss of the year.

BU coach Nancy Feldman said she was impressed with how her team battled on both sides of the ball.

“We played real strong defensively,” Feldman said. “We are really starting to be much more coordinated and organized. I feel like we’re at the point where the players know what to expect and what their role is defensively. That sets the tone for everything.

“Offensively, I thought we played an intelligent game,” Feldman added. “[Sometimes] we could have had better overall possession, but we played forward more aggressively, which we have to do more of. … Tonight we mixed in a little more aggression to get in behind [the defense]. It gets them running downhill a little bit and puts the ball on them, and I feel like we won territory tonight because of it.”

Once the game got underway, both teams battled hard for possession and a chance to take a lead. The most significant scoring opportunity for either squad occurred in the 11th minute, when a Colgate corner was headed towards goal and away from senior goalkeeper Alyssa Parisi.

However, senior forward Jenna Fisher was in the right place at the right time and deflected the ball away from the goal line. It was the closest Colgate would get to beating the Terrier defense. Feldman believes her team’s tenacity on loose balls helped keep the Raiders scoreless.

“Our commitment tonight to winning 50/50 balls was really good,” Feldman said. “That certainly helps control the tempo of the game. There are going to be times when no one has the ball, and the team that wins 60 percent of those is going to control the tempo, and we did that.”

The teams would remain scoreless until the second half, when junior forward Erica Kosienski was tripped in the penalty box in the 48th minute. This resulted in a penalty kick opportunity for the Terriers, which Pleuler was happy to take.

She struck the ball with confidence, putting it over Colgate goalkeeper Erin Cummings to give BU the 1-0 lead.

“Clare Pleuler is our number one penalty kicker,” Feldman said. “We don’t have to do any calls from the bench, she knows she is going to step up to take it. She practices them and feels confident, we have just trusted her in that role.

“She’s a technical player, she’s a great set-piece player and she’s very confident she can finish, even against a very opposing goalkeeper,” Feldman added. “She did a very good job putting that away. It takes steely focus and confidence to do that.”

The Terriers would strike once more one minute later, when sophomore forward Christina Wakefield sent a low cross into the box, which was met by a streaking Shreck. She blasted the ball from the top of the box into the right corner of the net for her first goal of the season, ultimately securing the win for BU.

Now that Feldman’s squad has completed a two-game road trip without recording a loss, her team can head into the upcoming homestand with confidence, which Feldman said she believes is very important for her team.

“It’s huge,” Feldman said. “It’s kind of hard to believe it’s almost October and it’s our first road win of the season. That makes it sound kind of negative, but it tells you a lot about the character of this team, that we fought and battled to a tie against American [University], a team that really played us tough.

“But we are getting better,” Feldman continued. “Things that we’re working on in training, the kids are applying in the game. These kids deserve this win, they worked real hard for it tonight. But it’s really been that buildup for the last two months, to have things start to come together for a little bit. Now it’s [about] bringing consistency every game.”