In one month’s time, the Boston University women’s soccer team has made up substantial ground since its worst start in program history.
On Saturday afternoon at Lehigh University, the Terriers (5-10-1, 5-1 Patriot League) continued its stretch of strong play with a thrilling 2-1 come-from-behind victory behind sophomore forward McKenna Doyle’s toe-tapper on the brink of extra-time.
BU head coach Nancy Feldman said postgame that her team triumphed over a Mountain Hawks side (8-4-2, 2-3-1 Patriot League) that hadn’t allowed a goal all season; while an exaggeration, her assumption wasn’t too far off.
Going into the BU game, Lehigh had given up a shockingly low seven goals through 13 games, accounting for the 11th-best goals against average in the nation (.516).
“[The Mountain Hawks] are a very committed, tough, athletic, defending team that doesn’t give you a lot of looks,” Feldman said. “Their defense is their signature … It took us a while but we started to move the ball a little bit quicker and played a little more angles and started to solve their pressure, but it was hard to do. They’re a very challenging team to play.”
The high-pressure Mountain Hawk defense was on full display in the opening half, as they limited the visiting Terriers to just seven shots and didn’t surrender a single corner.
BU’s defense was just as impressive, however, countering Lehigh by only three opportunities on net and two corners through the first 45 minutes.
After the teams came out of halftime, that’s when each began to click offensively.
In the 52nd minute, sophomore Sabrina Mertz slotted one by junior goalkeeper Hannah Ciolek off of a throw-in for her first goal of the season to give Lehigh the 1-0 lead.
With Mertz’s goal being the first time in 522 minutes that the Terriers trailed, they responded quickly.
Junior midfielder Jesse Shreck’s free-kick in the 53rd minute found senior defender Rachel Bloznalis in the box, and the captain’s redirected effort went by Mountain Hawk goalie Sam Miller for her second tally of the season to knot the game at one.
Minutes after Bloznalis’ equalizer, the Terriers were close to taking the lead. A well-placed through-ball found sophomore midfielder Julianna Chen, but her shot fell wide of Miller’s goal.
After Chen’s off-target shot, it was very much a back-and-forth effort between the two sides until the final 10 minutes of play.
BU hounded the Lehigh goal, forcing three shots and a corner kick before the all-decisive moment 57 seconds before the final whistle blew.
With the Terriers mounting a last-minute comeback, Doyle had possession, and her shot had just enough on it to sneak past a diving Miller, sending the Terriers to an improbable 2-1 road victory.
“She’s a natural finisher,” Feldman said of her talented striker. “This one goal was just a little toe-poke in, but she’s in and around it all the time, and she has very natural instincts and it’s very important. It was nice to see some different people scoring today, but that’s your forward’s job description: creating goals and scoring goals.”
Doyle’s toe-tapper extended her team’s unbeaten streak to six games, and is indicative of the Terriers’ developing talent.
BU has scored more goals (10) in this six-match streak than it did in its first 10 outings (2), and it’s paid off.
BU stands at 5-1 in the Patriot League standings, and with three conference contests left, it could easily tie or usurp top-dog Bucknell University if the Bison (12-0-1, 6-0 Patriot League) lose more than one of their remaining three league matchups.
“You hope the team grows,” Feldman said. “You start the season with a new group of kids even if you only lost a couple and add a couple … that takes a little time to develop, but I’d like to think we’re always better at the end of the season than in the beginning of the season.”
