Women’s soccer rounds out non-conference slate with Harvard

Coming off a successful road trip against Patriot League opponents, the Boston University women’s soccer team will match up with local rival Harvard University Tuesday night at Nickerson Field. The Terriers have not squared off against the Crimson since Oct. 8 of last year, when they needed two overtimes to knock off Harvard by a score of 2-1.

Ever since their first home game of the season against Hofstra University, the Terriers (5-4-3, 3-0-1 Patriot League) have dominated. In the past six games, BU has outscored its opponents 15-4 and has not lost once. This can be credited to the stifling play of the defense, which most recently held Loyola University Maryland to just one shot in the teams’ game Saturday, which the Terriers won 4-1.

“Our challenge on Tuesday is that we’ve got another team with a great group of attacking personalities,” said BU coach Nancy Feldman. “[Harvard (4-6-1) forward Margaret] Purce is a U-20 National Team player. She’s a handful. We’re not perfect, but we’re certainly more cohesive and organized in our defending.”

“The challenge sometimes is when the other team plays at a higher speed, [or] when they have different tactics,” Feldman added. “I don’t think we did a great job of at the beginning of the game against Loyola [(4-6-1, 2-1-1 Patriot League)] of dealing with their numbers at midfield. We did figure it out, but that’s the challenge, when the other team presents something a little bit different and how quickly can we adapt to keep them contained.”

Not to be outdone by the back line, BU senior goalkeeper Alyssa Parisi has also done well during this six-game stretch. She has given up only two goals in the past four games and has saved nine of the last 11 shots on goal she’s faced. One of her best performances of the season came against Colgate University, where she saved all five of the Raiders’ (3-7-1, 1-2-1 Patriot League) shots on goal en route to a 2-0 win. Feldman had plenty to say about her fifth-year leader.

“The whole year, Aly has been terrific,” Feldman said. “What makes her terrific is that she is making things look easy. She’s positioned well, she’s calm, she’s poised, she’s communicating well. Her distribution has been terrific. The confidence that the team has in her back there, makes everybody play and defend better, because you know she’s got you covered behind.”

Redshirted during her freshman campaign, the Camarillo, California, native benefited rather than suffered from a year off, Feldman said.

“She redshirted because when she came into BU, there were goalkeepers in front of her, and she wasn’t going to play her freshman year,” Feldman said. “But the real argument to make is for athletic purposes. A fifth year gives an athlete an opportunity to grow and develop because they’re going to be more mature and have gained more experience, and have had a better foundation of training. This is the bonus, this is getting someone who is a little more mature.”

Parisi will look to continue her strong play against a Harvard squad that averages 15.2 shots per game. The Crimson are led by Purce, who has taken 50 of the team’s 167 shots this season. Purce has tallied 10 points so far, which leads the Crimson. Forward Joan Fleischman and defender Bailey Gary each have collected five points this year. The Terriers’ defensive anchors will have their hands full trying to slow down Harvard’s playmakers.

On the other side of the field, the Crimson have a solid back line of their own, as their defense has only surrendered 1.07 goals per game. With an offense that has vastly improved in the past three weeks, Feldman knows her front line can exploit Harvard’s defense and create scoring opportunities, though.

“Just the same way we’ve been doing it,” Feldman said. “We want to be moving the ball with good speed of play. We have a team where goals can come from a number of different people … It sounds a little boring, but can we do what we’re doing even better? When it’s better, it typically is better organization with improved speed of play, and what that gets you is usually opportunities for goals.”