In yet another hard-fought match by the Boston University women’s soccer team, it still came up just short Sunday afternoon, as it fell 2-0 to Bucknell University at Emmitt Field in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
The Terriers (0-10, 0-1 Patriot League), despite finishing the contest with more shots and corner kicks than the Bison (7-0-1, 1-0 Patriot League), head home having lost a conference game for the first time in nearly two years.
The last time BU lost a league matchup was back on Oct. 18, 2014, when it dropped a 1-0 decision to Loyola University Maryland.
On Sunday, the Terriers were looking to rebound from their Thursday loss against Northeastern University, when they lost 2-0 despite being level with the Huskies in shots (12-12) and corner kicks (5-5).
Similar to Thursday’s contest, however, BU fell behind early and was forced to make another comeback.
In the 20th minute, Bucknell forward Maddie Mulford took her own rebounded effort past BU senior goalkeeper Bridget Conway to give her team the 1-0 lead.
Although they were down 1-0 going into halftime, the Terriers were dominant offensively through the first 45 minutes.
BU head coach Nancy Feldman’s side outshot the Bison 5-4 and won the corner kicks battle by a 4-1 margin, yet were unable to get one past opposing goalkeeper Jessica Ratner.
“We did a really good job I thought of dominating the style of play and imprinting ourselves on the match,” Feldman said. “I thought we won more than our share of 50/50 and second balls and were better than Bucknell on the physical category of the game which was really good to see.”
With many of their opportunities coming from point-blank range in the opening half, the Terriers thought they were bound to break their four-game scoring drought against the Bison.
“I thought we created some really good opportunities,” Feldman said. “Point-blank ones that on another day are going to turn into goals.”
BU also started the second half of play with a little more urgency than the home side.
In the 54th minute, freshman forward Kelly Park’s right-post effort was narrowly saved by Ratner, who was then able to collect senior forward Erica Kosienski’s rebound to prevent the Terriers from scoring.
Later in the game, junior forward Christina Wakefield almost knocked in one of her four shots. The East Longmeadow native found the ball in the middle of the Bison’s box completely unguarded.
Just as she was preparing to line up her shot, Ratner stepped in from nowhere to cut her off and clear away the Terriers possession.
That proved to be a critical play in the second half, as it set Bucknell up to seal the victory in the last minute of regulation.
With 11 seconds left, Bison forward Alexis Gannon received a pass from fellow forward Kendall Ham, and her shot ricocheted off the far post and in behind Conway, putting her team up for good.
It was a disappointing finish for the Terriers, especially considering their offensive performance was steady throughout.
BU won the shots margin over Bucknell 11-4, and the corner kick margin, 5-2 in the second half.
At the end of the day, Feldman’s side was still scoreless after 375 minutes, but she refuses to be frustrated when she sees the effort her team puts in on a consistent basis.
“I think our mentality has been good,” Feldman said. “Our attitude and our commitment to attack the game and put ourselves in a position to win the game is very good.”
The Terriers will look to snap that streak when they take on American University next Saturday on Nickerson Field in another league matchup.
“I’m a pretty honest person and there’s no panic in me,” Feldman said. “The things that we’re doing are going to lead us to success and I know I keep saying the same thing to [the team] as I do to anybody who’s listening, but I do truly believe that.”
