After extending its nation-best in-conference home unbeaten streak to 33 following its 3-0 victory over Lehigh University on Saturday, the Boston University women’s soccer team looks to close out the 2015 home campaign with a win over the College of the Holy Cross on Wednesday. The game represents the battle for the Turnpike Trophy, an athletic competition between the two Massachusetts schools across 21 varsity sports.
The Crusaders (4-7-3, 1-3-2 Patriot League) have been in a bit of an offensive drought lately. They have not scored two or more goals in a competition since their Sept. 30 match against the United States Military Academy, which was also the team’s last victory.
The Crusaders are also having difficulty keeping goalkeeper Brooke Holle pressure-free, as the players in front of her have scored fewer goals (17) than their opponents (22).
Throughout the season, the Terriers (7-5-3, 5-0-1 Patriot League) have been nearly unbeatable on their home turf. Outside of a non-league loss at the hands of Harvard University on Oct. 6, BU has won all of its games at Nickerson Field and at home has outscored its opponents 16-5.
Despite its early season struggles, BU coach Nancy Feldman’s team is looking to extend its home conference winning streak to seven games.
“Every year, the success is its own level of achievement,” Feldman said. “For this year’s team, I think that’s what we really want to focus on. Having had the struggles at the early part of the season, it took some time for us to find ourselves. What I’ve really enjoyed watching over the last few weeks is getting a sense of what the team’s identity is.”
The evolution of the Terriers’ scoring prowess has stood in sharp contrast to those early season woes. It took BU seven games to not only win its first game, but to score more than one goal in a match.
Eight games later, the Terriers have scored 23 goals while allowing just six. What is even more special is that 11 different BU players have scored throughout the season.
“Now that we’re relatively healthy, we’ve been able to put players where they’re best fitted,” Feldman said. “We’re playing in a system that’s working better for us than in the beginning of the season. A player like [senior defender] McKenzie Hollenbaugh being back in her more natural spot at center back has been key to a more stable place defensively.”
“Also, [midfielder] Julianna Chen, being a freshman and starting every game since she’s got here except one where she was injured, has grown and matured a lot in what the expectations and demands are at a Division I level,” Feldman added. “[Senior midfielder] Clare Pleuler has emerged as a very talented player, there’s consistency with how she’s playing and managing herself in a game. No matter what the other team’s trying to do, she’s been able to gain a level of consistency and get our attack in a rhythm and a tempo.”
Feldman also mentioned senior goalkeeper and Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week Alyssa Parisi as a player whose game has made big strides in her last season as a Terrier. In her last three games in front of the net, Parisi has surrendered only one goal, which proves that her conference-low goals-against average of 0.85 is no fluke.
“Alyssa Parisi right now is in a really good zone,” Feldman said. “She is experienced [and] she’s been there and done that during the conference season last year. … She hasn’t been asked to make a ton of saves, but she’s had to make a couple of really big ones, and her poise and composure back there, and her experience and maturity, has contributed to a lot of calmness and stability.”
When the Terriers step out onto Nickerson Field on Wednesday against the Crusaders, they will be gunning for their first undefeated conference season since 2012.
