Rising to second in the Patriot League standings after conference matchday three, the Boston University women’s soccer team has improved their record with a commanding 6-1 win over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers remain unbeaten by Lehigh University at Nickerson Field across seven games dating back to 2013. The win comes as the team’s second this regular season and marks the most goals for the program in a single game in seven years.
“The mentality has always been, ‘This is a process,’ and we want to keep building on performances and keep getting better every game and every week,” head coach Casey Brown said. “This game isn’t an accident or an anomaly. It’s a progression and a build up … of other games and other moments.”
The Terriers (2-6-3, 2-0-1 PL) landed on the scoreboard first when senior forward Morgan Fagan sent a dangerous ball in the box in the 19th minute. Her cross found sophomore forward Samantha Aronson, whose attempt was saved, but junior forward Margy Porta slotted her sixth goal of the season soon after, resulting in an extended four-game scoring streak.
“We’re getting in that groove, and we’re learning what each other’s preferences are, what type of balls we want, so I think just learning from each other is the key to [our production],” Porta said.
Thirty-nine minutes in, the Mountain Hawks (1-6-4, 0-3 PL) earned a free kick as the speed of their sophomore forward Cyndea Labissiere nearly bettered the Terrier backline. Five seconds later, Labissiere beat her defenders to set up Lehigh’s leading goalscorer, freshman forward Esther Brossard, for the equalizer.
Despite the level scoreline, the first-half stats and possession favored the home team, and that momentum carried into the beginning of the second frame when Fagan reestablished the lead.
Twenty-nine seconds later, Porta bagged a brace to make it 3-1.
“Going in at halftime, we felt a confidence, but we also felt the level of urgency and hunger to get more,” Brown said. “We were really eager to get at them. I thought we started very well in that second half, which completely dictated and changed the rest of the game.”
Nearly 51 minutes in, BU continued its relentless pursuit as junior midfielder Giulianna Gianino surged through the Lehigh defense for her sixth goal this season. Sophomore midfielder Kaiya Stewart picked up another BU point ten minutes later, bringing the score to 5-1.
With just over 16 minutes remaining, the Mountain Hawks thought they got one back when senior forward Faith Dobosiewicz hit the post and Lehigh got a shot on the deflection, but the effort was called offside, leaving BU’s lead unchanged.
The visitors came up empty in a couple other trips into their attacking third as the clock wound down, with a long way to claw back. Stewart got a second goal for a second Terrier brace in the game and a 6-1 lead in the last 10 minutes of the match.
By the final whistle, the Terriers outshot the Mountain Hawks 20-12. Erupting with 12-4 shots on target, BU emphasized the dominant displays on both sides of the ball and reached its highest single-game goal count since a 6-0 final score against American University in 2017.
“I’m happy for the girls’ great team performance,” Brown said. “We needed everyone today, and the girls really brought it, so [it was a] great day for us.”
The recent run of results comes at a perfect time for BU, who after eight games, looked to be in a bad place not having won once. But they turned a page at the initiation of conference play by scoring 10, allowing just four and staying undefeated through three contests in the Patriot League, joined only by Holy Cross.
“The team just feels more confident,” Porta said. “We’re more excited to just get out there and play together.”
Next, the Terriers travel to Yale University for their final non-conference matchup on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. as they look to stay in current form.
