After pulling off an unlikely comeback win versus St. John’s University Saturday night, the Boston University women’s soccer team advances another round in the NCAA Tournament. They will square off against No. 6 Pennsylvania State University Friday in University Park, Pennsylvania.
It took everything that the Terriers (13-5-3, 8-0-1 Patriot League) had to survive against a strong St. John’s team that featured star forward Rachel Daly, who totaled 43 points this season. BU’s junior midfielder Alexandra Cooper scored in the 78th minute to tie the game at 1-1 and send it to overtime. Just four minutes into the first overtime, senior midfielder Clare Pleuler got control of a loose ball in the box and tapped in another clutch goal to extend BU’s season.
BU head coach Nancy Feldman noted that a win like that does a lot for the team’s confidence heading into a tough matchup this weekend.
“That wasn’t a lucky win — that was an earned win,” she said. “I think that builds a lot of confidence, staring that moment down and really coming away saying, ‘We know what it takes and we know what we’re capable of.’”
As if their previous matchup wasn’t enough, the Terriers will soon have their hands full against the Nittany Lions (17-3-2). Penn State has not lost since a 1-0 loss at No. 9 Rutgers University on Oct. 18. Fresh off of winning the Big Ten Championship, the Lions also have an 11-1-1 home record. Their only home loss came early in the season — a 1-0 defeat to the University of Minnesota on Sept. 20.
The value of playing in front of a home crowd was definitely not lost on Feldman, whose squad is 8-1 at Nickerson Field and only 5-3-3 in away games. However, the veteran coach said she is not worried about playing away from home during the tournament.
“A lot of teams aren’t home for this tournament,” Feldman said. “Right now, there’s only eight teams hosting in the next round of matches. The host teams are more often than not the seeded team, and this team certainly earned that. You’re up against a strong opponent, but as far as not being on Nickerson, at this point, it won’t matter.”
And with the team’s recent history in mind, Feldman said this is another confidence booster.
“We played the way we played and came back the way we came back [while] not playing on our home field,” she said. “So it doesn’t much matter at this point. Our team has been traveling as a cohesive unit and we have each others’ back. And fans are traveling with us, so it feels like home.”
The main catalyst behind Penn State’s success is their defensive play, as the team has only surrendered 14 goals the whole season — good enough for a 0.64 goals allowed average. Nittany Lions goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom has maintained a save percentage of 0.826 and recorded seven shutouts this year.
On offense, the Lions are carried by forwards Mallory Weber, Megan Schafer and Frannie Crouse. The trio has combined for 27 goals and 17 assists this season. Despite all the threats that Penn State may impose on the Terriers, Feldman said she is confident that sticking with what got the Terriers this far this season is the best strategy.
“We’ve got a team that’s got a bunch of different weapons,” Feldman said. “We have weapons in restarts, we have weapons in the run of play, we have weapons for goal scoring. We just got to keep doing the things we’re doing.”
Nick is currently writing for the Boston Hockey Blog. In the past, he has served as associate sports editor, and has covered men's and women's cross-country, women's soccer, men's basketball, and men's lacrosse for the Daily Free Press. You can keep track of Nick's exciting life by following him on Twitter at @nikfraz14
